Based on the desire of their respective governments to strengthen and widen their bilateral in several areas of mutual interest, the two permanent representatives of Rwanda and Saint Lucia to the United Nations on Wednesday signed a joint communique establishing Diplomatic Relations.

The communique was signed in New York by permanent representatives of both countries to the United Nations, Valentine Rugwabiza, and Cosmos Richardson of Rwanda and Saint Lucia respectively.

"Rwanda looks forward to hosting Honourable Allen Chastanet, Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, and his delegation to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Kigali-Rwanda in June 2020,” Rugwabiza said in a statement from New York.

Rwanda will next year host CHOGM that will convene heads of state of all Commonwealth member states, including Saint Lucia, an Eastern Caribbean island nation.

Rugwabiza further expressed Rwanda’s wish in exploring untapped opportunities with Saint Lucia.

Saint Lucia is an Eastern Caribbean island nation whose capital known as Castries is well-known for its cruise port and widely recognized touristic attractions.

Saint Lucia’s envoy to the UN said he was impressed by the contribution of Rwanda to the United Nations peacekeeping mission, saying his country drew inspiration from this and other national milestones.

"We were inspired by Rwanda’s resilience, development achievements and transformative leadership of President Paul Kagame. On top of that, my country has strong historic ties to the African continent.”, he said.

Rwanda and Saint Lucia subscribe to both the Commonwealth – whose members are largely English speaking and La Francophonie – which brings together predominantly French-speaking countries.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com