Former president Bharrat Jagdeo will be making his first international appearance on Guyana's behald since vacating the Shiv Chaderpaul Drive office, at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2012 (DSDS 2012) in India.

This was disclosed by President Donald Ramotar during a brief encounter with the media on Friday.

“He is invited in his own right as a person and of course he’s going to be representing Guyana too, I don’t see why not, but he is invited in his own right as a person who has been recognised as having done a lot of work on this issue, probably more than most people,” Ramotar said.

The president added that he was invited too but could not attend the February 2-4 event. Ramotar succeeded Jagdeo following the November 28 polls. The latter had served in the  position for 12 years.

Contacted by Demerara Waves Online News (www.demwaves.com) Jagdeo acknowledged that it was his first overseas engagement on Guyana’s behalf but deferred any statement on the event until his return when he said he would provide a full briefing.

Ramotar has said in the past that he will be calling on his predecessor to utilise his experience and has dubbed him a valuable national asset.

Jagdeo for his part has said that Guyana will always have first call on his time.

“This country always has first call on my energies, my intellect, my experience, all that I have learnt because this is home for me. The people who live here are my people; anything I can do to advance our wellbeing as a country, that’s priority for me,” he told reporters prior to the November 28 elections.

He has been credited with initiating the government’s Low Carbon Development Strategy upon which Guyana’s development is hinged to sustainable exploitation of its resources.

Some of the themes to be covered at DSDS 2012 are biodiversity; forests and wildlife; oceans and coastal areas; water; the role of science and technology; global agreements and governance; poverty; and food security.

Invitees include heads of state, ministers, business executives and representatives from multilateral agencies.