Foreign relations of the Cayman Islands

The foreign relations of the Cayman Islands are largely managed from the United Kingdom, as the islands remains one of 14 overseas territories under British jurisdiction and sovereignty. However, the Government of the Cayman Islands have autonomy and often resolves important issues with foreign governments alone, without intervention from Britain. Although in its early days, the Cayman Islands' most important relationships were with Britain and Jamaica, in recent years, this has shifted, and they now rely more so on the United States and Canada.

Though the Cayman Islands are involved in no major international disputes, they have come under some criticism due to the use of their territory for narcotics trafficking and money laundering. In an attempt to address this, the Government entered into the Narcotics Agreement of 1984 and the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty of 1986 with the United States, in order to reduce the use of their facilities associated with these activities. In more recent years, they have stepped up the fight against money laundering, by limiting banking secrecy, introducing requirements for customer identification and record keeping, and requiring banks to cooperate with foreign investigators.

Due to their status as an overseas territory of the UK, the Cayman Islands have no representation either on the United Nations, or in most other international organizations. However, the Cayman Islands still participates in some international organisations, being a full member of the Central Development Bank and International Olympic Committee, an associate member of Caricom and UNESCO, and a member of a subbureau of Interpol.

Bilateral relations

India

United States

References

See also

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Foreign relations of the Caribbean
  • British West Indies
  • Danish West Indies
  • Dutch Caribbean
    • Caribbean Netherlands
    • Netherlands Antilles
  • French West Indies
  • West Indies Federation
West
Indies
Antilles
Greater
Antilles
Hispaniola
Lesser
Antilles
Leeward
Islands
Saint Martin^
  • Collectivity of Saint Martin
  • Sint Maarten
Virgin Islands
Southern
Caribbean
Leeward
Antilles
  • Insular Venezuela
    • Federal Dependencies
    • Nueva Esparta
ABC islands
Windward
Islands
Lucayan
Archipelago
Caribbean
Sea
  • Aves Island
  • San Andrés and Providencia
    • Bajo Nuevo Bank~
    • Serranilla Bank~
Caribbean
continental
zone
  • Quintana Roo
    • Cozumel
Central America
  • Belize
  • Honduras
    • Bay Islands
  • Izabal
  • Limón
  • Corn Islands
  • North Caribbean Coast
  • South Caribbean Coast
  • Panama
South America
  • Colombian Caribbean
  • Venezuelan Caribbean
Wider
groupings
may include:
Yucatán Peninsula
  • Campeche
  • Petén
  • Yucatán
The Guianas
  • Amapá
  • French Guiana
  • Venezuelan Guayana
  • Guyana
    • Guayana Esequibaǂ
    • Tigri Areaǂ
  • Suriname
N.B.: Territories in italics are parts of transregional sovereign states or non-sovereign dependencies.

^These three form the SSS islands that with the ABC islands comprise the Dutch Caribbean, of which *the BES islands are not direct Kingdom constituents but subsumed with the country of the Netherlands.

Physiographically, these continental islands are not part of the volcanic Windward Islands arc, although sometimes grouped with them culturally and politically.

ǂDisputed territories administered by Guyana. ~Disputed territories administered by Colombia.

#Bermuda is an isolated North Atlantic oceanic island, physiographically not part of the Lucayan Archipelago, Antilles, Caribbean Sea nor North American continental nor South American continental islands. It is grouped with the Northern American region, but occasionally also with the Caribbean region culturally.
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Foreign relations in the Americas
  • United States and Canada
  • Latin America and the Caribbean
  • Latin America
    • Hispanic
  • North America
    • Northern
    • Caribbean
    • Central America
  • South America
Sovereign states