Port Moresby: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday held talks with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape took stock of their bilateral relations and discussed ways to further augment cooperation in areas like commerce, technology, healthcare and climate change.
Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit the country, also reiterated India’s support and respect for the priorities and wishes of the Pacific Island nations.
He also met the island nation’s Governor-General Bob Dadae separately and discussed ways to further strengthen the bilateral partnership across multiple sectors.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, in a tweet, said, “PM Narendra Modi arrives at the iconic APEC House located on the shores of Ela Beach in Port Moresby. Warmly welcomed by PM James Marape.”
During his talks with Marape, Modi thanked his counterpart for the warm welcome and for co-hosting the 3rd Summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
FIPIC was launched during Modi’s visit to Fiji in 2014. The summit took place at a time when China is making efforts to enhance its military and diplomatic influence in the region.
Both leaders took stock of their bilateral relations and discussed ways and means to further strengthen their partnership across various sectors, including trade & investment, health, capacity building & skill development and Information Technology, it said.
They also discussed issues related to climate action and promoting people-to-people ties. Prime Minister reiterated India’s support and respect for the priorities and wishes of the Pacific Island nations, the statement said.
“Prime Minister James Marape and I had very productive talks, covering the full range of bilateral relations between India and Papua New Guinea. We discussed ways to augment cooperation in commerce, technology, healthcare and in addressing climate change,” Prime Minister Modi tweeted and posted a photo of him shaking hands with Marape.
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 to preserving the tenets of Indian thought and culture in Papua New Guinea.
Earlier in the day, Modi met Papua New Guinea’s Governor-General Bob Dadae at the Government House.
The Governor-General warmly welcomed the Prime Minister on his first visit to the country.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi starts off the day in Papua New Guinea with a warm conversation with Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae at the historic Government House. Underlined the significance of India-Papua New Guinea relations ties and development partnership between the two countries,” MEA spokesperson Bagchi said on Twitter.
Both leaders had a good exchange of views including on the significance of the bilateral ties and development partnership between the two countries, which they agreed to further strengthen, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
Prime Minister Modi posted photos of his meeting with Governor-General Dadae on his official Twitter handle.
“Had a wonderful meeting with Governor-General of Papua New Guinea, Sir Bob Dadae. We talked about ways to deepen bilateral relations between our nations across different sectors,” Modi said.
The Indian prime minister arrived here Sunday evening from Japan where he attended the summit of the G7 advanced economies and held bilateral meetings with several world leaders.
His visit to Papua New Guinea on the second leg of his three-nation tour is the first ever by any Indian prime minister. He was received at the airport by Prime Minister James Marape who touched his feet as a mark of respect. Normally Papua New Guinea doesn’t give a ceremonial welcome to any leader coming after sunset. But a special exception was made for Prime Minister Modi and a ceremonial welcome was accorded to him.
The FIPIC Summit saw participation from leaders of 14 countries.
Pacific Island nations include Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Republic of Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
PTI