India is to host the second edition of the
Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation
(FIPIC) in Jaipur on August 21,
with all 14 countries of the region
participating -- nine months after
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a visit to
Fiji proposed holding of the second summit
in India.
Of the 14 nations, three would be represented
by their respective presidents, one by its vice
president, seven island nations are sending
their prime ministers, one its deputy prime
minister and two are sending a senior
minister to the meeting.
India provides grant-in-aid of $200,000 to
each country every year.
The meet will see India announce steps in
which the countries lack expertise --
cooperation in coconut and coir and solar
energy, among other initiatives.
India's links with the Pacific Island nations,
separated from India by 4,000 miles and
two oceans, have been limited, compared
to China's expanding presence in the islands,
situated to the east of Australia.
India does not have consulates on the islands,
but is "covering them from five different countries -
- New Zealand, Japan, Philippines, Fiji and
Papua New Guinea"
India's first interactions with the Pacific Islands
began in the 19th century when Indian indentured
workers were brought to Fiji to work in the
sugarcane plantations.
Modi, during his visit on November 19 last year,
was the second Indian prime minister to visit Fiji
in 33 years - after Indira Gandhi.
India's increasing engagement with the 14
Pacific Islands underlines their growing geo-
strategic importance as the countries lie at
the centre of a key maritime route rich in
resources.
The Exclusive Economic Zone off Papua
New Guinea has rich reserves of liquefied
natural gas. The other Pacific Island nations
too possess resource-rich waters off
their coasts, including hydrocarbons.
The 14 island nations - Cook Islands,
Tonga, Tuvalu, Nauru, Kiribati, Vanuatu,
Solomon Islands, Samoa, Niue, Palau,
Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Fiji and
Papua New Guinea - although small,
also have a vote each in international fora -
which holds immense strategic weight for
New Delhi as it seeks to play a larger
international role.
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