In Tonga, India reaffirms multifaceted engagement with Pacific island countries

Nuku'alofa (Tonga), Aug 29 (IANS) India will undertake one 'Quick Impact Project' or QIP of each country's choice worth USD 50,000 in each of the 14 Pacific island countries, Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita announced at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Dialogue Partners' Session in Tonga on Thursday.

Reaffirming India's strong commitment to work closely with Pacific partner countries and the PIF as the foremost regional mechanism, Margherita highlighted that the bilateral development partnership in the form of grant-in-aid projects worth about USD 3 million per annum is demand-driven and has had a high impact on the 14 Pacific partner countries.

The Indian government's approach to the Blue Pacific Continent, he said in his statement at the forum, is based on the country's ancient philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam', or the 'World is one Family'.

"India's multifaceted engagement with the Blue Pacific Continent is anchored in our Act East Policy and is strengthened both bilaterally and through different mechanisms such as the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC)," he said.

He reminded the leaders attending the meeting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a 12-point action plan during the third FIPIC Summit held in Papua New Guinea, last year.

This included the setting up of a 100-bedded regional Super-specialty Hospital in Suva (Fiji), a Regional IT and Cyber Security Training Hub in Papua New Guinea, 1000 Scholarships over the next five years, a supply of Dialysis Units, and Generic Medicine Pharmacy outlets.

"Our Pacific friends have benefited from the India-UN Development Partnership Fund which supports demand-driven sustainable development projects such as the Parametric Microinsurance project in Fiji, the Construction of the water cistern in Tuvalu and the solarisation of the Langafonua building of Tonga’s National Council for Women which will be commissioned on Friday," the MoS stated.

It was during the 2023 summit held in Port Moresby that the leaders of the small island countries called themselves "victims of global powerplay" and called on PM Modi to further elevate issues of concern to the region on the global stage.

"We hosted the 3rd Voice of the Global South Summit (VOGSS) a few days back with the overarching theme of 'An Empowered Global South for a Sustainable Future'. This summit was joined by more than 120 countries including many PIF members and provided valuable inputs," Margherita said on Thursday.

He also mentioned that India shares the concerns of Pacific island countries regarding the threat posed by climate change and rising sea levels and has successfully reduced the emission intensity vis-a-vis its GDP by 33 per cent between 2005 and 2019, thus achieving the initial Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) target for 2030, 11 years ahead of the scheduled time.

India, he said, remains committed to responding to the vulnerabilities caused by natural hazards in the Pacific.

"India leads a number of global initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the Green Grids Initiative -- One Sun, One World, One Grid, the Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS), the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), and the Global Biofuel Alliance which benefit our Pacific partners," the minister mentioned.