Grenada, April 30, 2017: This year, in April end, Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell will formally open the International Conference on The Indian Diaspora in Grenada and the Wider Caribbean.

Prime Minister Mitchell is also the Minister of National Security, Public Administration, Disaster Management, Home Affairs and Implementation in Grenada. He is the longest-serving Prime Minister of Grenada, presiding in that office for over 13 years.

The weekend conference, from Friday, April 29 to Sunday, May 1, 2017 will commemorate the arrival of East Indians in Grenada on May 1, 1857. May 1^st has been officially recognised by the Government since 2009 as Indian Arrival Day.

On that historic day, the Maidstone docked at Irwin's Bay in St. Patrick's with 287 passengers who were brought as indentured labourers to replace the emancipated African slaves. Over 22 years (1856 to 1878), 3,033 Indians came from India to Grenada to work on the sugarcane estates.

The Grenada conference aims to bring together academics, historians, teachers, tourism and culture workers, and other persons with an interest in the Indian Diaspora in the Caribbean to discuss their research findings. Space will be provided for less formal presentations from activists and practitioners in the field in order to contribute to the limited store of public knowledge on Indians in Grenada.

Attendance to the conference is free of charge and open to the public.

For attendance and participation in the conference, please contact-

Dr Kumar Mahabir (Trinidad), Cell: (868) 756-4961 E-mail: dmahabir@gmail.com, Ms. Shadel Nyack Compton (Grenada), Cell: (473) 533-9525 E-mail: Shadelcompton@gmail.com and Mr. Jai Sears (Grenada), Cell: (473) 405-2921 E-mail: jaisears@yahoo.com.