UNION Minister of State for Law & Justice and Corporate Affairs PP Chaudhary began the second leg of his two-nation tour as a part of the outreach initiative Bruhad Sampark Yojana undertaken by the Ministry of External Affairs.

Meeting with Members of Diaspora

Mr Chaudhary reached Barbados on April 25 2018. The visit commenced with interaction with the families of Non Resident Indians (NRIs) which mainly comprised of the medical professionals contributing to the health administration as well as medical academic institutions of Barbados.Mr Chaudhary thanked the members of the Indian community for their immense contribution to the development and progress of Barbados. He also stated that such contribution immensely strengthens the ties between India and Barbados.

Official Engagements

Mr Chaudhary met the Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs Adriel D Braithwaite on April 26 2018. During this meeting, Mr Chaudhary had wide ranging discussions with the Hon'ble Minister on a wide range of issues of mutual interest encompassing administration of law & Justice, prison reforms, constitutional law, cyber security, international terrorism and technical & economic cooperation.Mr Chaudhary assured India's full cooperation to Barbados in sectors such as skill development, capacity building and training in legal and parliamentary studies.

Later in the evening, Mr Chaudhary attended a cultural event organized by the Indian community in his honour in Medical College. The event was attended by the Prime Minister of Barbados, Freundel Stuart who was the guest of Honour for this function. During this programme, several senior Ministers from the Government of Barbados including the Minister of Education, Minister of Home Affairs of the Barbados Government, were also present.

This cultural event saw participation from various professionals, business community leaders, members of Sindhi Association of Barbados, Gujarati Muslims association and medical students' community from India whose number is exponentially growing in Barbados in recent years.

In his address, Prime Minister of Barbados, Freundel Stuart welcomed Mr Chaudhary and expressed his deep appreciation on behalf of the people of Barbados for the Government of India's outreach initiatives of expanding relations with Barbados. The Prime Minister further added that India being such a prominent power in the contemporary world order, it is extremely important for India to deepen and broaden its relations with foreign countries. He went on to make a public announcement that Barbados would open a Resident Mission in New Delhi through a Cabinet Decision, if the Government under his leadership returns to power after the elections due in the country on May 24, 2018.

Mr Chaudhdary addressed the gathering of three hundred persons during the event and articulated the measures undertaken by the Government of India of engaging with nations across the world in order to raise India's profile with a view to attaining Prime MinisterMr Narendra Modi's vision of making India a vishwaguru . He emphasized the role played by the Central Government under the astute leadership of Prime MinisterMr Narendra Modi towards building a New India through the effective implementation of its flagship programmes such as Make in India, Skill India, Digital India, Startup India, Mudra Yojana and Ujjvala Yojana.