PM Roosevelt Skerrit wishes India on 75th Independence Day

Prime Minister of Dominica, Dr Roosevelt Skerrit, wished the Republic of India on its 75th Independence Day on Sunday. He said India has been a trusted friend of the country. PM Skerrit posted the wishes on his Facebook and Twitter with a flyer designed with the government's logo, wishing the country a "Happy Independence Day".

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"We value the relationship that has developed between our two countries over many years and look forward to continued strong ties in the interest of our citizens." said the Dominican PM.

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India was among the first countries in the world to reach out to the small Caribbean island countries with coronavirus vaccines. Dominica was the first country to be benefitted from India's vaccine Maitri Mission in the Americas.

Over 70,000 doses of Oxford Astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India helped Dominica kickstart their vaccination campaigning. PM Skerrit wrote to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in January 2021, and the vaccines reached the country by February 2021. In April, the prime minister of Dominica had also written to Indian PM Narendra Modi when India was experiencing a tragic wave of coronavirus. India had made the handling of COVID-19 easy for the Caribbean countries. Besides Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and some other countries in the region also received vaccines from India.

Diplomatic relations between Dominica and India were established in 1981; both countries have shared a good friendship. India had also assisted Dominica during Hurricane Maria in 2017. In 2011, Dominica's Division of Agriculture signed an MoU with India's Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), promising cooperation in education and research in the agriculture sector. India is also a significant exporter to Dominica, and both countries shared a trade worth US$1.57 million in 2015-16.