Dominica to honour Indian PM Narendra Modi with Award of Honour

Roseau, Dominica: The government of Dominica will honour Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India with the highest national accolade, the Dominica Award of Honour. He will be awarded during a ceremony at the India-CARICOM Summit which is slated for November 19 to 21, 2024 in Georgetown, Guyana. 

The award will be given by President of Dominica- Sylvanie Burton, to acknowledge the crucial role of PM Modi during the COVID-19 pandemic and his efforts in maintaining diplomatic ties between two countries. 

Prime Minister Dr Roosevelt Skerrit also spoke about the award and noted that this will express the appreciation of the people of Dominica for the continuous and unwavering support of PM Modi during the tough times including COVID-19 pandemic. He said that the Prime Minister of India has remained great assistance not only to Dominica, but to the wider Caribbean region especially during the time of crisis. 

In February 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi provided 70,000 AstraZeneca vaccines to Dominica during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is considered as the generous gift by the government of the country as they also helped other Caribbean countries with the vaccine distribution.  

Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the service of the flights had been shortened and then special representative Gurdip Dev Bath facilitated the transportation of over one lakh AstraZeneca vaccines from India to the Caribbean region. It had not only provided major support to Dominica, but also to other nations including St Kitts and Nevis, Barbados and others.  

His generous support in the dire need has saved crucial lives in the small island nations and due to this, the government of Barbados also supported him with the prestigious title ‘The Honorary if the Republic’ by the Government of Barbados. He was applauded for his crucial role in the tough times and honoured with an official ceremony on June 26, 2023.

The award will also mark the gratitude of Dominica for his supportive and kind behaviour which has also helped in advancing the shared vision of progress and resilience between both the country. It will also acknowledge the timely and enhanced support of India for the country in several sectors including education and information. 

PM Modi will be awarded for his efforts in building great relations between Dominica and India, further promoting collaboration on climate resilience agendas and sustainable developmental goals at global platforms. 

Prime Minister Modi also accepted the offer of being awarded and highlighted the shared cooperation of both the countries in mitigating the impact of the climate change. He also reiterated the commitment of India towards the small island nations so that they could manage these issues with proper support. 

Prime Minister of India is scheduled to visit Guyana on November 19, 2024 on the invitation of President Dr Irfaan Ali. He will participate in a series of events and talk about collaboration on several matters of concern. 

During the visit, he will also participate in India-CARICOM Summit where the ways of enhancing the cooperation between the two countries will be discussed. The leaders of the Caribbean countries will also gather and discuss common priorities and matters including education, agriculture and tourism. 

Due to the COVID-19 support and other help, Prime Minister Dr Roosevelt Skerrit has extended gratitude to PM Modi on several platforms for their support in the times of need. Recently, PM Skerrit visited India in October 2024 and met with several foreign affairs officials of the country to talk about several shared cooperations and matters of bilateral concerns.