Saint Lucia's Permanent Representative (or ambassador) to the United Nations as of February 22, 2017, was Cosmos Richardson, who was still in office as of January 2018.[1]
History
Saint Lucia participated in the
invasion of Grenada in 1983, sending members of its Special Services Unit into active duty. It was subsequently one of eight countries to cast a vote against a United Nations General Assembly motion condemning the invasion.[2]
As a member of CARICOM, St. Lucia strongly backed efforts by the United States to implement
UN Security Council Resolution 940, designed to restore democracy to Haiti
. St. Lucia agreed to contribute personnel to the multinational force which restored the democratically elected government of Haiti in October 1994.
St. Lucia participated along with 14 other Caribbean nations in a summit with US President
Bridgetown, Barbados
, in May 1997. The summit was the first-ever meeting in the region between the U.S. and Caribbean heads of government, and strengthen the basis for regional cooperation on justice and counternarcotics, finance and development, and trade issues.
Bilateral relations
List of countries which Saint Lucia established diplomatic relations with:
Relations between India and Saint Lucia date back to the mid-19th century when both countries were British colonies. The first Indians in Saint Lucia arrived on 1 May 1857 as indentured workers on board the Palmyra. Thirteen ships transported indentured labourers from India to Saint Lucia in the following decades.[48] The last ship carrying Indian indentured workers, the Volga, arrived on the island on 10 December 1893. In total, nearly 4,500 Indians were brought to Saint Lucia, excluding those who died during the voyage.[49] About 2,075 workers returned to India, while the rest remained in Saint Lucia or emigrated to other Caribbean nations such as Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana.[50] The last indenture contracts expired in 1897, and by the end of the 19th century, Saint Lucia had a population of 2,560 free Indians. Many Indians who had completed their indenture periods were unable to return home as they did not have sufficient funds to do so. The Indians that remained in Saint Lucia are the origin of the Indo-Saint Lucian community.[51]
The Embassy of India in Paramaribo, Suriname is concurrently accredited to Saint Lucia.[52] Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Kenny D. Anthony held bilateral discussions on the sidelines of UN General Assembly in New York on 25 September 2015. Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy made a visit to Saint Lucia on 3–6 October 2016. Rudy held bilateral talks with Acting Prime Minister Guy Joseph, Minister of External Affairs Sarah Beaubrun Flood, Senator Hermanglid Francis, the Minister for Home Affairs, Justice and National Security, the Minister of Commerce, Industrialists, Diaspora Associations, Academicians and other senior Saint Lucian government officials.[53]
Indo-Saint Lucians or Indian Saint Lucians are Saint Lucians of Indian ancestry, descended from the Indians who came to Saint Lucia in the 19th century as indentured workers. As of 2013, people of Indian descent are a minority ethnic group in the country, accounting for 2.4% of the country's population. An additional 11.9% of the country is multiracial, predominantly of Indian and African descent.[54] They have completely assimilated with the local population and have little familiarity with Indian culture. Some Indo-Saint Lucians have held high offices such as Cabinet Ministers.[52] As of December 2016, around 250 Indian citizens reside in Saint Lucia. Most members of the community are doctors and other professionals, while a few are businessmen engaged in imports, trading and running duty-free shops.[53]
7 May 1984, severed 29 August 1997, Restored 30 April 2007
St. Lucia had official diplomatic relations with the
People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1997. On 25 April 2007, the Premier of the Republic of ChinaSu Tseng-chang, announced that St. Lucia and the ROC would resume formal diplomatic relations.[56] On 1 May 2007, St. Lucia regained diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan).[57] Within a few days, the People's Republic of China suspended diplomatic relations.[58] On 4 June 2015, St. Lucia opened its embassy in Taipei, its first embassy in Asia.[59]
^Libro amarillo correspondiente al año ...: presentado al Congreso Nacional en sus sesiones ordinarias de ... por el titular despacho (in Spanish). Venezuela. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. 2003. pp. 528–529.
^Latin America Report (2644). [Executive Office of the President], Federal Broadcast Information Service, Joint Publications Research Service. 1983. p. 124.
^"Diplomatic Relations". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
^Latin America Report. Vol. 29. [Executive Office of the President], Federal Broadcast Information Service, Joint Publications Research Service. 1984. p. 108.
†Physiographically, these continental islands are not part of the volcanic Windward Islands arc, although sometimes grouped with them culturally and politically.
#Bermuda is an isolated North Atlanticoceanic island, physiographically not part of the Lucayan Archipelago, Antilles, Caribbean Sea nor North American continental nor South American continental islands. It is grouped with the Northern American region, but occasionally also with the Caribbean region culturally.