By Dr. Gyan Pathak
Visit of the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi to the Pacific Island Nations drew international attention since several countries of the world, including China, had great strategic interests in the region. Indian move for consolidation and expansion of ties with the countries in the region sharing Indian roots and history has thus become significant.
PM Modi’s reaching out to 14 Pacific Island Countries (PICs) at the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) summit on May 22, 2023 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea projecting India as ‘reliable friend in need’ was keenly watched and appreciated all over the world. It was in contrast to China’s aggressive behaviour in the region to expand its influence and clout among nations.
PM Modi interacted with the leaders of the 14 Pacific Island Nations – the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Republic of Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu – of the region.
During the summit PM Modi declared India’s approach for Cooperation based on human values. He made subtle reference to the countries and said that those they had considered trustworthy were ‘not standing by our sides in times of need’. The International community interpreted this reference to China. Modi said that India stood by them in the challenging time and conveyed that they can consider New Delhi as a “reliable’ development partner, as it respects their priorities.
The region’s strategic importance lies in the fact that the islands of the Pacific regions are spread in 5 continents – Antarctica, Asia, North America, Oceania, and South America, and42 countries – either independent Pacific Island Nations or administered by other counties which includes China, Mexico, United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Taiwan, France, Russia, Philippines, Canada, and Australia.
Though PM Modi’s visit is by and large seen as part of India’s Act East Policy and a counter to China’s growing influence in the region, the importance of this visit lies not only for strategic reasons but also strengthening India’s partnership with the region for mutual benefit of India and the Pacific Island nations. India moved in right direction to showcase the country as their reliable and trustworthy partner in times of need.
PM Modi’s visit to the Pacific Island Nations was also important as the sign of India’s growing engagement in the region, where India has had traditional but limited ties with several nations particularly in the 14 countries that participated in the FIPIC summit.
It should be noted that India has been working to increase its presence in the region through the Pacific Island Nations having Indian roots, which was seen even at the time when the PM James Marape of Papua New Guinea touched Indian PM’s feet at arrival. Touching feet is deep rooted traditional way of greeting elder or respected persons in India, and hence the remarkable gesture was noted especially in India and surprised the world. Not only Modi’s visit, but such a gesture is he further sign of India’s place in the region, and the commitment from both sides sharing Indian roots and history.
The occasion was thus a great opportunity to strengthen India’s economic and strategic ties with not only these 14 Pacific Island Nations but also in the entire region where India could look to expand its ties with others. It would ultimately expand India’s trade and investment ties with the region, the activities that India urgently needs for its own sake. It was an opportunity to discuss the related issues of economy and development.
Since India is also looking to strengthen its security ties with the countries in the Pacific region, it gave opportunities to discuss the related issues at the highest level of leaderships.
The Pacific Island Nations are facing a number of serious challenges which includes climate change and rising sea levels, apart from the challenges of economic development. India can help them to address these challenges, and therefore, several issues were discussed at the summit and bilaterally.
PM Modi unveiled a 12-point development agenda for the Pacific Island nations in a range of areas including healthcare, renewable energy and cyber-security. He also announced that India will provide sea ambulances, dialysis units and a super-speciality cardiology hospital to the region. He also reaffirmed his support for capacity-building efforts in the Pacific Island Nations.
Strategically, the “voice of the Global South” should resonate strongly in the UN Security Council, PM Modi said, and for that “reform of the international institutions should be our shared priority”. Not only that, while recalling meetings in the just-concluded G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, PM Modi also said that he had discussions with Australia, the US and Japan as part of the Quad. This dialogue has a special focus on the Indo-Pacific region. “In the Quad meeting, we have taken a decision to establish the Radio Access Network (RAN) in Palau (one of the island-nations),” he said. “In a plurilateral format, we will enhance partnership with Pacific island-countries.”
The strategic importance of the region reverberated when PM Modi underlined the importance of a free and open Indo-Pacific for the PICs and said that India respects sovereignty and integrity of all countries.
Though PM Modi’s visit was successful and fruitful one cannot discard the need of further strengthening the ties on account of growing strategic importance of the region. (IPA Service)
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