Looking to expand its footprint in the strategically important South Pacific region, India will push for deeper engagement with 14 resource-rich island nations in a range of key areas including trade and investment during a summit in Jaipur next week.
India is hosting the 2nd Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit on August 21 with an aim to chart out a new course in relationship with the countries of pacific region, where China has been trying to step up its influence.
Secretary (East) in External Affairs Ministry Anil Wadhwa said India will push for greater cooperation with the island nations in sectors like oil and natural gas, mining, IT, healthcare, fishing and marine research besides many other areas, noting that India wants to be "trusted partner" in their journey of development.
So far nine heads of states and governments have confirmed their participation in the summit, main deliberations of which will take place in Jaipur on August 21.
The island nations which will take part in the FIPIC summit include Cook Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Nauru, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Niue, Palau, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. Some of the island nations have oil and gas reserves.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Fiji in 2014 had identified a number of areas for cooperation including food processing, fisheries, solar energy and telemedicine and climate change and proposed that FIPIC summit should be held regularly.
Asked about China's increasing activities in Pacific Island nation, Wadhwa said India's engagement stretches to all the 14 countries and that the "engagement of the others are limited." He said India was helping the countries in capacity building.
India's annual bilateral trade with the 14 countries is around USD 300 million out of which USD 200 million is India's export and USD 100 million is its import.
India provides grant-in-aid of USD 200,000 to each country annually.
Wadhwa said disaster mitigation programmes and cooperation in renewable energy are two major areas where both sides will put focus on.
Most of the heads of governments and states and other delegates will arrive here on August 19 and they will be given a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan on August 20.
They will have a meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee where Vice President Hamid Ansari and the Prime Minister will be present. Then the delegates will go to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.
In the evening, they will participate at a CII event and on the morning of August 21, the delegates will leave for Jaipur. In Jaipur they will visit the Amer fort and in the evening participate at the summit which will also be addressed by Modi.
