Suva (Fiji): India has been privileged to partner with Fiji in the nation-building efforts in the South Pacific country, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Thursday, underlining that there have been “close and long-standing ties” shared between two countries through people-to-people linkages.
At a joint press event with Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka here, Jaishankar said that India and Fiji have signed and exchanged the visa waiver agreement.
“It will certainly be helpful in encouraging greater travel between our two countries,” he said.
He further said that “India and Fiji have close and long-standing ties and I think a large part of that is really built on our people-to-people linkages.”
“We have been privileged to partner with Fiji in its nation-building efforts across various sectors, in working with it in capacity building; in areas like health, education, agriculture; we’ve done projects in the Sugarcane industry; we’ve worked together in renewable energy; and I think today one part of our discussion looked at areas like IT and support for Medium and Small enterprises. So there is really a very very substantive bilateral agenda before us,” he said.
Jaishankar further said that “I am very assured after discussions with the Prime Minister that this relationship will scale greater heights, that it would deliver for the mutual benefit of the peoples.”
The two leaders also discussed regional and global issues of shared interest, including the Indo-Pacific.
“We agreed to work more closely towards strengthening our multilateral cooperation, working strongly in international organisations. We particularly focused on the Pacific region because again India sees Fiji as a very important partner in the Indo-Pacific.”
“We hope to co-host the third Summit of the Forum for India Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) in the coming months and we would certainly value Fiji’s presence and leadership on that occasion.”
The Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region, comprising the Indian Ocean and the western and central Pacific Ocean, including the South China Sea.
The US, India and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China’s rising military manoeuvring in the resource-rich region.
In response to a question about whether the two leaders discussed China during their talks, Rabuka said, “We thought it was bad manners to talk about somebody who is not in the building. We spoke about our own cooperation and we’re very fortunate to have such a great power and economy talking to us.”
“We have great old friends and there is no need to look for new friends. There are no really new friends in this region. We have been friends with India, and we have been friends with China. We’ll continue our relationship,” the Fijian prime minister said.
Rabuka also appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian government for their incredible support in co-hosting the 12th World Hindi conference in Fiji.
Jaishankar is on a three-day visit to the South Pacific archipelago nation to attend the 12th World Hindi Conference currently being held here.
He also thanked the government of Fiji for partnering with India for the conference. India has also stood with Fiji in difficult times as the region is prone to natural disasters.
“India has also stood with Fiji in difficult times. We’ve been the first responders on certain occasions. And during Covid, in line with what we call our Vaccine Maitri initiative, Vaccine friendship initiative, Fiji was the recipient of 100,000 doses of vaccines in March 2021 we are truly pleased with the recovery that we see in Fiji and it’s something that we regard as something which is very good for the global economy,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
PTI