NEW DELHI: In a bid to boost bilateral ties, External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar is all set to visit North and South America for the first time since taking charge of office in 2019.

Sources said, Jaishankar will be paying an official visit to Guyana between April 21-23, Panama (April 24 to 25), Colombia (April 25 to 27) and Dominican Republic (April 27 to 29).

He will meet with the governor and many ministers while in Guyana. Along with his colleague Hugh Hilton Todd, Jaishankar will serve as co-chair of a joint commission meeting where a wide range of bilateral problems will be discussed.

Along with bilateral talks with participating ministers, the visit to Guyana will provide an opportunity for a meeting of foreign ministers in the India-COFCOR format (the Council on Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR), a group of 15 members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)).

In Panama, Jaishankar will be hosted by his counterpart Janaina Tewaney Mencomo. He will meet with representatives of the eight-nation Central American Integration System (SICA) during the tour as well as the foreign ministerial conference between India and SICA.

Jaishankar's Colombia visit would be a first foreign ministerial-level visit to the country. He is planned to meet with a number of influential figures from the political, commercial, and civil society sectors. Jaishankar and Colombia's Alvaro Leyva Duran will discuss their respective countries' relations. Since the start of diplomatic relations in 1999, India's visit to the Dominican Republic is its most important one.

The Indian resident mission will also be formally inaugurated by the two leaders. Jaishankar is also expected to address the foreign ministry of the Dominican Republic.

His visit to these four nations will give him the chance to maintain high-level contacts with nations in Latin America and the Caribbean and to look into new opportunities for collaboration in a variety of fields, especially in the event of a pandemic, sources said.

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