International Relations Specialist and Head of the Department of Political Science at UWI, St Augustine campus, Dr Indira Rampersad, said Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s call for international collaboration on security at the 81st United Nations General Assembly was significant and strategic.
Dr Rampersad indicated that one of the most significant points of the address was the Prime Minister’s call for greater international cooperation to combat the illicit trafficking of firearms and narcotics, which she described as a major security threat to Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean.
“The call at the UN General Assembly for collaboration on the issue of crime, and there are many countries that will be willing to collaborate because, like I said, this is a chain, and I didn’t mention that from the Caribbean as a transshipment point the drugs go to North America and Europe, which is Canada, the United States, in particular, and Europe. So now in the UN General Assembly you are engaging all these partners.”
Dr Rampersad noted that the forum was the most strategic choice for such a call.
“You are engaging the South Americans, the supply chain, you are engaging the Caribbean, the transshipment point, you are engaging the North Americans and the Europeans, the demand point. So you have the supply and demand and the transshipment point here to deal with this problem, to come forward and deal with this and let us collaborate in whatever way.”
Another significant achievement of the UNGA was the diplomatic overtures made between T&T, Ghana, and Venezuela.
“With regard to trade, I think what is critical here is that agreement, that overture to Venezuela and the mending of the fractures with Delcy Rodriguez and her government. It was very, very turbulent. That whole ‘persona non grata’ issue didn’t go down well. But the Dragon gas fields – they have to pursue it because the future of Trinidad and Tobago economically lies there to some extent.”
The Prime Minister’s address to the UNGA focused heavily on citizen security, regional stability, and Trinidad and Tobago’s upcoming responsibilities as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2027-2028.