Foreign relations of Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia maintains friendly relations with the major powers active in the Caribbean, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and France. Saint Lucia has no extant international disputes, aside from tension resulting from the island's status as a transit point for South American drugs destined for the United States and Europe.

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 American-led 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 Bill Clinton in 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.

Diplomatic relations

List of countries which Saint Lucia established diplomatic relations with:

#	Country	Date
1	United Kingdom	22 February 1979 [3]
2	Barbados	23 February 1979 [4]
3	Canada	23 February 1979 [5]
4	Guyana	23 February 1979 [6]
5	Jamaica	23 February 1979 [7]
6	South Korea	23 February 1979 [8]
7	Mexico	17 May 1979 [9]
8	United States	11 June 1979 [10]
9	Cuba	23 August 1979 [11]
10	North Korea	13 September 1979 [12]
11	France	14 September 1979 [13]
12	Venezuela	14 September 1979 [14]
13	Romania	15 November 1979 [15]
14	Argentina	13 December 1979 [16]
15	Brazil	21 December 1979 [16]
16	Bahamas	1979 [17]
17	Dominica	1979 [17]
18	Haiti	1979 [17]
19	Israel	1979 [17]
20	Italy	1979 [17]
21	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1979 [17]
22	Trinidad and Tobago	1979 [17]
23	Ecuador	1 January 1980 [16]
24	Germany	8 January 1980 [18]
25	Japan	11 January 1980 [19]
26	Cyprus	24 July 1980 [16]
27	Greece	18 November 1980 [16]
28	Suriname	18 November 1980 [16]
29	Belgium	1980 [17]
30	Iraq	1980 [17]
31	Netherlands	1980 [17]
32	Belize	21 September 1981 [20]
33	Sweden	1981 [17]
34	Australia	17 January 1982 [21]
35	India	8 February 1982 [22]
36	Colombia	18 March 1982 [23]
37	Grenada	6 October 1982 [24]
38	Denmark	20 December 1982 [25]
39	Bangladesh	12 May 1983 [26]
40	Saint Kitts and Nevis	19 September 1983 [27]
41	Antigua and Barbuda	1983 [17]
—	Republic of China	13 January 1984 [28]
42	Oman	28 March 1984 [16]
—	Holy See	1 September 1984 [29]
43	Peru	1985 [17]
44	Spain	2 May 1986 [16]
45	Morocco	9 March 1988 [16]
46	Seychelles	13 July 1988 [16]
47	Dominican Republic	1988 [17]
48	Thailand	4 April 1989 [16]
49	Uruguay	1 September 1989 [16]
50	Norway	1990 [17]
51	Chile	21 March 1991 [30]
52	Costa Rica	1991 [17]
54	Guatemala	1 April 1992 [16]
54	Malaysia	9 October 1992 [31]
55	Marshall Islands	1992 [17]
56	Nicaragua	1992 [17]
57	Paraguay	18 June 1993 [16]
58	Singapore	15 January 1994 [32]
59	Indonesia	2 February 1994 [33]
60	El Salvador	2 February 1994 [34]
61	Panama	10 July 1995 [35]
62	Czech Republic	6 August 1996 [16]
63	Portugal	19 September 1996 [16]
64	South Africa	12 December 1996 [16]
65	Brunei	1996 [17]
—	China (suspended)	8 September 1997 [36]
66	Croatia	10 December 1997 [16]
—	Sovereign Military Order of Malta	1999 [17]
67	Poland	24 May 2000 [16]
68	North Macedonia	24 August 2000 [16]
69	Belarus	25 August 2000 [16]
70	Armenia	17 October 2000 [16]
71	Ireland	2000 [17]
72	Saudi Arabia	2000 [17]
73	Russia	19 April 2004 [16]
74	Ethiopia	3 August 2004 [16]
75	Austria	2 June 2005 [37]
76	Turkey	25 June 2005 [38]
77	Slovenia	29 August 2005 [16]
78	Tajikistan	5 October 2005 [16]
79	Hungary	7 October 2005 [16]
80	Iceland	7 May 2006 [39]
81	Switzerland	10 June 2006 [40]
82	Latvia	21 June 2006 [16]
83	Lithuania	19 March 2009 [16]
84	Estonia	23 September 2009 [16]
85	Finland	23 September 2009 [16]
86	Luxembourg	23 September 2009 [16]
87	Slovakia	23 September 2009 [16]
88	Libya	30 October 2009 [16]
89	Georgia	25 February 2010 [16]
90	Azerbaijan	11 March 2010 [16]
91	Malta	11 March 2010 [16]
92	Albania	14 July 2010 [16]
93	Egypt	19 July 2010 [16]
94	Montenegro	24 September 2010 [16]
95	Ukraine	24 September 2010 [41]
96	United Arab Emirates	29 November 2010 [42]
97	Kuwait	31 January 2011 [16]
98	Monaco	12 May 2011 [16]
—	Kosovo	19 August 2011 [17]
99	Maldives	2 December 2011 [17]
100	Kazakhstan	5 December 2012 [16]
101	Qatar	1 March 2013 [16]
102	Bosnia and Herzegovina	15 April 2013 [16]
103	New Zealand	17 May 2013 [43]
104	Honduras	5 June 2014 [44]
105	Mongolia	27 September 2014 [16]
106	Mauritius	7 November 2014 [17]
—	State of Palestine	14 September 2015 [16]
107	Fiji	27 January 2016 [16]
108	Philippines	29 March 2016 [16]
109	Vietnam	26 June 2018 [16]
110	Gambia	25 September 2018 [17]
111	Kiribati	25 September 2018 [17]
112	Solomon Islands	25 September 2018 [17]
113	Sri Lanka	25 June 2019 [16]
114	Bolivia	26 June 2019 [17]
115	Nepal	27 August 2019 [16]
116	Rwanda	28 August 2019 [16]
117	Namibia	29 October 2019 [16]
118	Serbia	13 November 2019 [17]
119	Kenya	10 December 2019 [16]
120	San Marino	7 February 2020 [17]
121	Bulgaria	5 November 2020 [16]
122	Moldova	3 March 2021 [16]
123	Cape Verde	20 September 2022 [45]
124	Ivory Coast	22 September 2022 [16]
125	Tuvalu	7 December 2022 [16]
126	Bahrain	13 December 2022 [16]
127	Algeria	19 December 2022 [16]
128	Andorra	20 September 2023 [16]
129	Kyrgyzstan	20 September 2023 [16]
130	Liechtenstein	20 September 2023 [16]
131	Sierra Leone	20 September 2023 [16]
132	Timor-Leste	8 November 2023 [16]
133	Mauritania	5 December 2023 [46]
134	Botswana	6 December 2023 [16]
135	Samoa	14 December 2023 [47]
136	Pakistan	28 May 2024 [16]
137	Benin	25 June 2024 [16]
138	Mali	26 June 2024 [16]
139	Eritrea	16 September 2024 [16]
140	Ghana	24 September 2024 [48]

Bilateral relations

Country	Formal Relations Began	Notes
Belize	21 September 1981	Both countries have established diplomatic relations on 21 September 1981. [49] Both countries are full members of both Commonwealth of Nations and Association of Caribbean States.
France	14 September 1979	See France–Saint Lucia relations Both countries established diplomatic relations on February 22, 1979. Saint Lucia has an embassy in Paris [50] France is accredited to Saint Lucia from its embassy in Castries, Saint Lucia. [51]
India	1982	See India–Saint Lucia relations See also: Indo-Saint Lucian 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. [52] 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. [53] 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. [54] 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. [55] The Embassy of India in Paramaribo, Suriname is concurrently accredited to Saint Lucia. [56] 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. [57] 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. [58] 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. [56] 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. [57]
Ireland	2000	Ireland is representative to Saint Lucia from its embassy in Brasilia, Brazil Saint Lucia is representative to Ireland from its embassy in Havana, Cuba
Mexico	17 May 1979	See Mexico–Saint Lucia relations Mexico has an embassy in Castries. [59] Saint Lucia is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.
Trinidad and Tobago	22 February 1979	See Saint Lucia-Trinidad and Tobago relations Trinidad and Tobago has a consulate in Basseterre
Taiwan	7 May 1984, severed 29 August 1997, Restored 30 April 2007	St. Lucia had official diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan) for about 13 years, but switched recognition to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1997. On 25 April 2007, the Premier of the Republic of China Su Tseng-chang, announced that St. Lucia and the ROC would resume formal diplomatic relations. [60] On 1 May 2007, St. Lucia regained diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan). [61] Within a few days, the People's Republic of China suspended diplomatic relations. [62] On 4 June 2015, St. Lucia opened its embassy in Taipei, its first embassy in Asia. [63]
Turkey	25 May 2005	See Saint Lucia–Turkey relations Turkish Embassy in Port of Spain is accredited to St. Lucia. [64] Trade volume between the two countries was 3 million USD in 2019. [64]
United Kingdom	1979	See Foreign relations of the United Kingdom Saint Lucia established diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom in 22 February 1979. [3] Both countries are Commonwealth Realms. Saint Lucia maintains a high commission in London. [65] The United Kingdom is accredited to its high commission in Castries. [66] The UK governed Saint Lucia from 1803 to 1979, when Saint Lucia achieved full independence. Both countries share common membership of the Commonwealth; they are both parties of the UK–CARIFORUM continuity Trade Agreement. [67]
United States	11 June 1979	See Saint Lucia–United States relations Saint Lucia has an embassy in Washington, D.C. [68] United States is accredited to Saint Lucia from its embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados. [69]

Multilateral relations

Saint Lucia is a member of several international organizations, including the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organization of American States, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

ACCT (associate), ACP, ALBA, C, Caricom, CDB, CELAC, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, NAM, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO

See also

• List of diplomatic missions in Saint Lucia
• List of diplomatic missions of Saint Lucia
• Visa requirements for Saint Lucian citizens

References

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