Late Indian Foreign Minister Supported Guyana

Aug 09, 2019 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

The veteran Indian Politician Sushma Swaraj passed away on the evening of August 6. There are several Guyanese (in the diaspora and in Guyana) who would mourn the demise of Sushma Swaraj-ji as she closely interacted with a few of us since the 1990s and was a patron or sponsor of events pertaining to Guyana and the Indian diaspora. She was a supporter of Guyana for increased developmental assistance and for scholarships to the Indian diaspora, including Guyanese. In fact, the idea of a Senior Know India Program, that subsidizes travel to India, was an idea of myself and Ravi Dev. It was also through our requests that there has been an increase in scholarships to India.
I learnt of the tragic news of her demise on a flight to Guyana and my mind was focused on interactions we had including one at her home in August 2014, shortly after her election in a one-on-one exchange of views on varied issues pertaining to Guyana and the Caribbean.
Although Shrimati Sushma never visited Guyana, Guyanese and the people of the Caribbean region were close to her heart. She queried about Guyana and the Caribbean. She was very sympathetic to and supportive of Guyanese causes and on the descendants of indentured labourers from India – seeking my views on increased connectivity and linkage with India. I requested and she supported an increase in financial assistance (and scholarships and the Know India Program) to Guyana and the greater Caribbean region.
I have very fond memories of my exchanges with the late foreign Minister. I don’t think Guyanese or any global politicians had the opportunity to have met her as many times as I did and to have exchanges on the Indian diaspora. I met her several times in India and in New York and New Jersey, including at her residence, shortly after she became Minister of External (Foreign) Affairs, where we had extensive discussions on Guyana and the Caribbean region.
My first encounter with her was during her stint as Information Minister in the late 1990s and again in New York when she inaugurated Asia TV station in Edison into the new century. A few prominent Guyanese were invited to that event that was graced by Members of Congress and the US Administration. (Many Guyanese subscribe to TV Asia that is broadcast internationally on cable). She was warm, friendly, down to earth.
I also interacted with her at several diaspora gatherings (PBDs) in India that began in 2003. The concept of a global Indian diaspora conference that came to be known as PBD was proposed by Guyanese Dharamdatt Sukhai Durjan, Ramesh Kalicharran and myself in a meeting with Atal Beharri Vajpayee in Manhattan; Sushma was a confidante and favourite of Vajpayee. Besides those encounters, I had lengthy conversations with Sushma on the Caribbean region and the diaspora in North America and Europe.
Sushma was a patron and financial supporter on conferences relating to Guyana and the greater Caribbean in India and the Caribbean. I helped to plan and organize several of these conferences including the last one held at Banaras Hindu University last January. And she supported requests for increases financial aid to Guyana and the region going back to the late 1990s when she was a Minister of government serving in varied capacities.
Sushma-ji, as she was fondly called, was very knowledgeable of World Affairs having served as Foreign Minister for five years. Aside from the late PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy PM Lal Kishan Advani, she showed the greatest interest among Indian politicians on Indians in the diaspora. She was very close to the aging Advani (approaching 90) on diaspora and other affairs and would interact with Indo-Caribbeans in New York and at PBDs in Delhi. She often solicited ideas on the diaspora and issued messages related to their events.
In December 2010, she was the keynote speaker on a conference on Indian culture in the diaspora praising overseas Indians for their cultural retention and for promoting India’s soft power.
In 2016, she invited the esteemed Ravi Dev and myself for a special summit in Delhi on a conference on preservation of documents pertaining to Indian indentureship document and history. The Indian government was committed to digitizing historical documents in Guyana so that diaspora countries would be on the same wavelength to facilitate research. But regrettably, support from Guyana was not forthcoming and the idea was shelved.
Guyanese politicians would have met her in 2018 in Delhi at the parley for MPs of Indian descent. She also interacted with former President Donald Ramotar in January 2015 in Delhi and in Gandhinagar, and she had many exchanges with Foreign Minister Carl Greenidge and our political leadership on international issues and on foreign aid for Guyana. They would attest to her friendliness.
Sushma interacted with Guyanese and Caribbean people at the first International Yoga summit in New York at the UN in 2010.
Guyanese will miss a champion of their development and financial assistance.
Unlike other politicians, including several here in Guyana, she retired with grace and honour. She had a very good innings although she has dismissed at 67. She served with integrity; there was never any allegation of impropriety against her. Guyanese politicians should take a page from the book of Sushma.
Yours truly,
Dr. Vishnu Bisram (PhD)

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