India, Jamaica sign pacts on UPI, digital infra; plan to enhance def cooperation

NEW DELHI: India and Jamaica on Tuesday inked agreements for cooperation in digital public infrastructure and linking their online payment systems as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterpart Andrew Holness outlined steps to enhance cooperation in defence, security and trade.
Holness is the first Jamaican premier to visit India at a time when New Delhi has begun enhancing cooperation with countries in the Caribbean as part of its focus on the Global South. Besides his meetings with the Indian leadership, Holness is interacting with trade and industry leaders to attract investments in areas such as information technology.
The two sides signed key agreements for cooperation in sharing India’s successful digital public infrastructure to promote financial inclusion and social and economic transformation, and for integrating India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with Jamaica’s Jam-Dex. They also signed two other pacts for cooperation in sports and cultural exchanges.
“We are ready to share our experience with Jamaica in areas like digital public infrastructure, small industries, biofuel, innovation, health, education and agriculture,” Modi said at a joint media interaction after the bilateral talks. Holness added that Jamaica is keen to benefit from the strides made by India in fields such as STEM education and digitalisation.
Both leaders identified defence and security, including the use of technology in these spheres, as areas where the two sides can ramp up cooperation. “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,” Modi said, speaking in Hindi.
Holness described India as a “natural ally” for Jamaica’s efforts to strengthen its national security infrastructure and enhance border security because of New Delhi’s role as a global leader in technology-driven security solutions. He said the plans of the two countries to diversify their energy mix by 2030 provide a platform for deeper cooperation on energy security.
Jaideep Mazumdar, secretary (East) in the external affairs ministry, told a media briefing that Jamaica can leverage India’s expertise in digital public infrastructure for digital transformation. He said no timeline had been fixed for the integration of the digital payment systems of the two sides. Jamaica can enhance its capabilities for personal and merchant payments in an inter-operable manner and this can pave the way for digital inclusion, he added.
In the field of defence and security cooperation, Holness expressed interest in learning from India’s application of technology in these areas, Mazumdar said. Jamaica is looking to India to integrate technology into its defence systems, he added.
“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,” he said.
The other areas identified by the two sides for coperation include health, medicine, education, agriculture, culture and skill development, Mazumdar said.
Both Modi and Holness highlighted the role of the Indian-origin diaspora in Jamaica and their contributions in diverse fields in the Caribbean country.
“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 said. 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.”