Prime Minister Narendra Modi co-chaired the third India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit in Papua New Guinea on Monday along with Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, James Marape. The FIPIC event saw the participation of 14 Pacific Island Countries (PICs).
FIPIC includes Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Republic of Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Modi said that India believes in multilateralism and supports a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, adding that India was ready to share its experiences and capabilities with Pacific island countries.
"India is proud to be your development partner. You can count on India as a reliable partner. We are ready to share our experiences and capabilities with you without hesitation. We believe in multilateralism and support a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific," he added.
On the impact of the Covid pandemic, the Prime Minister added that it was seen the most in the Global South. "Challenges related to climate change, natural disasters, hunger, poverty and health were already there, now new problems are arising...I am happy that India stood by its friendly Pacific Island countries in times of difficulty," Modi said.
"India considers it its responsibility to convey the concerns of the Global South, their expectations and their aspirations to the world through the G20. This was my effort in the last two days at the G7 summit as well," he said.
Earlier the day, Modi held talks with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape and the island nation's Governor-General Bob Dadae separately and stressed on strengthening the partnership between the two countries across multiple sectors.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, in a tweet, said that the discussions between the two prime ministers covered a range of issues, including strengthening partnerships in multiple sectors, climate action as well as promoting people-to-people ties.
Modi arrived here on Sunday evening from Japan where he attended the summit of the G7 advanced economies and held bilateral meetings with several world leaders.
The two leaders launched a translation of the Tamil classic Thirukkural' to the Tok Pisin language of Papua New Guinea. The translated book is co-authored by linguist Subha Sasindran and Sasindran Muthuvel, Governor of West New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea. The book has a foreword by Prime Minister Marape.
Prime Minister Modi congratulated the authors and complimented them on their contribution towards preserving the tenets of Indian thought and culture in Papua New Guinea.
