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The Indian diaspora in the Caribbean: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered an impassioned address in Port of Spain, underscoring India\u2019s imminent rise as one of the world\u2019s top three economies and highlighting the country’s deepening global influence through technology, infrastructure, and cultural diplomacy.<\/p>\n
Modi, speaking to a packed gathering of over 4,000 people\u2014including Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, cabinet ministers, lawmakers, and local dignitaries\u2014framed India as a land of boundless potential. His remarks came during the second leg of a five-nation tour, marking the first official bilateral visit by an Indian prime minister to Trinidad and Tobago in over two decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a few years, India will be among the top three economies of the world,\u201d Modi declared to thunderous applause from a crowd infused with pride. \u201cThe fruits of India\u2019s growth and progress are reaching the most needy. For New India, even the sky is not the limit.\u201d<\/p>\n
This rhetoric is far from mere political hyperbole. India\u2019s GDP recently overtook the UK\u2019s to become the world\u2019s fifth-largest economy, and it is projected by several international institutions\u2014including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley\u2014to rise to third place behind the US and China by the early 2030s. According to the International Monetary Fund, India\u2019s economy grew by over 7.8% in 2024, buoyed by surging domestic demand, strong exports, and state-led industrial policies.<\/p>\n
Modi’s speech placed particular emphasis on India\u2019s technological and digital revolutions. \u201cToday, India is the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world,\u201d he said. \u201cNearly 120 of our startups have achieved unicorn status. What is more heartening is that nearly half of these startups have women as directors.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pointed to India’s national missions in Artificial Intelligence, Semiconductors, and Quantum Computing as \u201cthe new engines of growth\u201d that would define the 21st century. Modi described these programs as not only industrial initiatives but societal transformations, democratizing innovation across sectors and geographies.<\/p>\n
\u201cInnovation is becoming a mass movement in India,\u201d he asserted. \u201cOur youth are not just dreaming big\u2014they are building the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
The AI mission alone has seen a doubling of central investment in AI research parks and public-private partnerships over the past year. With over 40 AI Centers of Excellence and partnerships with academic institutions like IITs and IISc, India has emerged as a serious global contender in deep tech development.<\/p>\n
Modi spotlighted India\u2019s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as an example of grassroots digital transformation. \u201cNearly 50% of the world\u2019s real-time digital transactions now happen in India. UPI has made sending money as easy as sending a good morning message,\u201d he quipped, drawing laughter when he added, \u201cAnd faster than West Indies bowling!\u201d<\/p>\n
In a landmark move, Trinidad and Tobago has become the first Caribbean nation to adopt India\u2019s UPI platform, allowing real-time peer-to-peer and cross-border transactions. This integration is expected to ease remittances and boost financial inclusion among the large Indian-origin population and wider Caribbean diaspora.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is fintech diplomacy,\u201d said Dr. Anirudh Bhaskar, a digital economy analyst in Mumbai. \u201cIndia is exporting not just products but platforms. That\u2019s a shift in soft power dynamics.\u201d<\/p>\n
Modi\u2019s visit was as much about rekindling ancestral bonds as it was about economic diplomacy. He hailed the Indian-origin population in Trinidad and Tobago\u2014descendants of indentured laborers brought under British rule in the 19th century\u2014as \u201cmessengers of a timeless civilization.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey left the Ganga and Yamuna behind but carried the Ramayan in their hearts,\u201d Modi said poetically. \u201cThey were not just migrants. They were cultural ambassadors. Their contributions have enriched this nation economically, culturally, and spiritually.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over 40% of Trinidad and Tobago’s population traces its roots to India. The island\u2019s calendar is peppered with Indian festivals like Diwali, Phagwa (Holi), and Ramleela. Bollywood music is popular, and Indian cuisine is part of daily life. Modi’s remarks struck a powerful chord with the local population.<\/p>\n
He also offered symbolic gifts: a replica of the Ram Mandir of Ayodhya, water from the Sarayu River, and holy water from the recent Maha Kumbh Mela. These sacred elements, he said, would be offered to the Ganga Dhara\u2014an Indian-style temple water channel in Trinidad\u2014as a blessing to the people of the island nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI request Prime Minister Kamla ji to offer the sacred waters to the Ganga Dhara here. May these holy waters bless the people of Trinidad and Tobago,\u201d he said, blending religious reverence with diplomatic warmth.<\/p>\n
One of the more poignant announcements of Modi\u2019s address was the creation of a comprehensive database of the Girmitiya community\u2014those indentured laborers taken from British India to work in sugarcane fields in colonies like Trinidad, Fiji, Mauritius, and South Africa.<\/p>\n
The project, officials say, will collect records, oral histories, and genealogical data to preserve the legacy of these migrants and restore lost family links. The initiative is being jointly led by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a long-overdue tribute to a community whose story has been sidelined in both colonial and post-colonial narratives,\u201d said Trinidad-based historian Professor Anand Sookdeo. \u201cModi\u2019s gesture gives cultural dignity and official recognition to people who built this nation from the ground up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Modi\u2019s speech also painted a vivid picture of an India in transformation\u2014both physically and strategically. \u201cToday\u2019s India is building the world\u2019s most modern infrastructure\u2014highways, airports, metro rail systems, smart cities. We are investing in connectivity not only within India but with the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He cited India\u2019s growing defence manufacturing capacity, pointing to the recent export of BrahMos missiles to Southeast Asia and the rollout of domestically built stealth frigates and fighter jets.<\/p>\n
Under Modi\u2019s \u201cMake in India\u201d campaign, defence exports have increased sixfold over the past decade. Indigenous platforms like the Tejas fighter jet, the Akash missile system, and the INS Vikrant aircraft carrier symbolize India’s push for military self-reliance.<\/p>\n
Similarly, the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes in sectors like electronics, mobile phones, solar manufacturing, and semiconductors have attracted tens of billions in FDI over the last two years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world sees India as a trusted partner,\u201d Modi declared. \u201cWe are not just \u2018Make in India.\u2019 We are \u2018Make for the World.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Modi\u2019s multi-country visit, including stops in Russia, France, Suriname, and Kenya, illustrates India\u2019s growing assertiveness on the world stage. It blends strategic defence talks, trade partnerships, and cultural diplomacy. The Trinidad stop in particular emphasizes India\u2019s policy of deepening ties with Global South countries and reconnecting with diaspora networks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Indian diaspora is our global family,\u201d Modi said. \u201cWherever I go, I feel at home among you.\u201d<\/p>\n
India\u2019s Ministry of External Affairs has increasingly focused on engaging diaspora communities as nodes in a global network of influence, investment, and cultural exchange. According to the World Bank, remittances to India hit an all-time high of $125 billion in 2024, and diasporic lobbying efforts have played significant roles in foreign policy outcomes.<\/p>\n
\u201cModi is building a global India not just through trade or treaties but through people,\u201d noted foreign policy expert Dr. Meenakshi Sundaram. \u201cThis is diplomacy rooted in emotion, identity, and mutual benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Modi concluded his speech with a call to unity and vision, he returned to a recurring theme: resilience and destiny.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndia has shown that poverty can be defeated by empowering the poor. For the first time, crores of people have developed the confidence that this nation can be freed from poverty forever,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Trinidad and Tobago (Photo: X)<\/p>\n
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