New Delhi | External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will begin a nine-day trip to Guyana, Panama, Colombia and the Dominican Republic beginning Friday to explore bilateral engagement in new areas.

It will be Jaishankar's first visit as the external affairs minister to these countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Jaishankar will first travel to Guyana where he will hold wide-ranging talks with his counterpart Hugh Hilton Todd on further expansion of overall ties between the two countries.

During his visit to the country from April 21 to 23, Jaishankar will call on Guyana's leadership and interact with several ministers, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Wednesday, announcing the visit.

It said the external affairs minister will visit Panama from April 24 to 25, Colombia from April 25 to 27 and his last destination would be the Dominican Republic.

He will visit the Dominican Republic from April 27 to 29.

"It (the visit) will provide an opportunity to continue high-level contacts with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and explore new areas of cooperation in a whole host of areas, particularly in the post-pandemic scenario," the MEA said in a statement.