India and Jamaica signed agreements on Tuesday, to collaborate on digital public infrastructure and connect their online payment systems. During the meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness also discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in defence, security, and trade.

Holness is the first premier of Jamaica to travel to India at a time when New Delhi, as part of its focus on the Global South, has started to strengthen ties with Caribbean nations. Holness is meeting with trade and industry leaders in addition to the Indian leadership in an effort to draw investments into fields like information technology.

The two parties inked important agreements to work together in sharing India's digital public infrastructure, which has been successful in promoting financial inclusion and social and economic transformation, as well as to integrate India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with Jamaica's Jam-Dex. Two more agreements for collaboration in sports and cultural exchanges were also inked by them.

“We are ready to share our experience with Jamaica in areas like digital public infrastructure, small industries, biofuel, innovation, health, education and agriculture,” PM Modi stated in a joint media appearance after the bilateral talks. According to Holness, Jamaica is eager to capitalise on India's advancements in digitalisation and STEM education, among other areas.

The leaders agreed that there are opportunities for increased cooperation between the two sides in the fields of defence and security, including the use of technology in these domains. “We will move forward in training and capacity building of the Jamaican military in the field of defence. Organised crime, drug trafficking and terrorism are our common challenges. We agree to face these challenges together,” said Prime Minister Modi in his speech in Hindi. 

Owing to New Delhi's position as a global leader in technology-driven security solutions, Holness called India a “natural ally”for Jamaica's efforts to fortify its national security infrastructure and improve border security. According to him, there is room for further cooperation on energy security given the two nations' plans to diversify their energy mixes by 2030.

Jamaica can benefit from India's experience in digital public infrastructure for digital transformation, according to Jaideep Mazumdar, secretary (East) in the Ministry of external affairs. There was no set timeline for the two sides' digital payment systems to be integrated, he said. Digital inclusion may be facilitated by Jamaica's ability to improve interoperable personal and merchant payment capabilities, he continued.

According to Mazumdar, Holness expressed interest in studying how India uses technology in the areas of defence and security cooperation. He said that Jamaica is looking to India in order to incorporate technology into its defence systems. “We also discussed how coast guard cooperation could develop. In the area of defence and security, Jamaica is particularly concerned about trans-national organised crime, including drug trafficking and cyber-crime. It was agreed that we would carry forward our cooperation in this respect,” said he.

Health, medicine, education, agriculture, culture, and skill development are among the other areas that the two parties have determined call for cooperation, according to Mazumdar. Holness and Modi both emphasised the importance of the Indian diaspora in Jamaica and their contributions to the nation's various fields.

“The people who migrated from India to Jamaica nearly 180 years ago laid the strong foundations of our people-to-people ties. Today, the nearly 70,000 people of Indian origin who call Jamaica home are a living example of our shared heritage. I thank Prime Minister Holness and his government for taking care of them,” Modi asserted. Holness added, “For almost two centuries now, Indians have made their mark in Jamaica, contributing to our country’s development in various spheres, including health, education, IT and business. Their contribution to Jamaica’s rich cultural heritage is also evident in our cuisine, music and dance.”