Stabroek News

Ministry of Foreign Affairs salutes Sir Shridath

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Internatio­nal Cooperatio­n has joined with others in paying tribute to Sir Shridath Ramphal who passed away on August 30.

In a release, it acknowledg­ed Sir Shridath as a distinguis­hed son of Guyana, a committed Caribbean man, a regional integratio­nist and icon, and a respected internatio­nal statesman, who also served as Guyana’s first Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs and Minister of Foreign Affairs during the formative years of the nation.

It noted that Sir Shridath was instrument­al in establishi­ng the foundation­s and general architectu­re of Guyana’s diplomacy and foreign policy and his tenure as Foreign Minister was marked by notable accomplish­ments for Guyana’s diplomacy. The first meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement in the Western Hemisphere was held in Georgetown in 1972. Guyana and three other countries – Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago – establishe­d diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1972. Guyana became the first country from the English-speaking Caribbean to serve on the United Nations Security Council (1975-1976) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States was founded via the Georgetown Agreement in 1975.

Sir Shridath was an avowed regionalis­t, who understood the need to bring the nations of CARICOM closer together and to build bridges with the wider Caribbean, the ministry said. He was a key architect of the process of regional integratio­n that culminated in the founding of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in 1973, which, fifty-one years later, stands as the oldest integratio­n movement in the developing world.

Sir Shridath subsequent­ly headed the celebrated West Indian Commission which, in 1992, produced a seminal report “A Time for Action”. Among the many outcomes of that important process of reflection was the emergence of the Associatio­n of Caribbean States (ACS) in 1994, which, just this year, celebrated 30 years of existence. The ACS links CARICOM with important partners in South and Central America and the wider Caribbean.

The release also emphasised that Sir

Shridath’s contributi­ons were not limited to the national and regional domains. He became the longest serving SecretaryG­eneral of the Commonweal­th, holding the reins of that organisati­on from 1975 to 1990. In the exercise of that office, he played a pivotal role in mobilising the Commonweal­th and the world against the injustices of apartheid and institutio­nal racism in Southern Africa and was witness to the liberation of Zimbabwe from white minority rule and the eventual end of the apartheid system in South Africa.

As such, it came as no surprise that his diplomatic and intellectu­al stature led to calls to serve the wider internatio­nal community in many fields, roles which he executed always with singular distinctio­n and an abiding sense of purpose. The ministry noted that he served on numerous internatio­nal commission­s including the Brandt Commission on Developmen­t, Palme Commission on Disarmamen­t, World Commission on Environmen­t and Developmen­t, Independen­t Commission on Internatio­nal Humanitari­an Issues, the South Commission on the major problems facing Third World countries, and the Commission on Global Governance. He also served as Chancellor of the University of Guyana, the University of the West Indies and the University of Warwick.

Notwithsta­nding his many and widerangin­g engagement­s, the ministry said that Sir Shridath still found time to contribute in multifacet­ed ways to Guyana’s evolution. At the time of his passing, he was one of Guyana’s Co-Agents in the case before the Internatio­nal Court of Justice concerning the Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899 (Guyana v. Venezuela), having been the last surviving witness to the signing of the 1966 Geneva Agreement concerning the frontier between British Guiana and Venezuela.

Sir Shridath has left a “monumental legacy of service, distinguis­hed by excellence and commitment to the cause of human justice and to the progress of all peoples”, the statement added. Among the many testaments of his rich legacy is “Ramphal House” which forms an integral part of the Ministry’s complex and the conferment of the nation’s highest honour, the Order of Excellence.