World News | Hope to co-host the third summit of the Indo-Pacific Island Countries Cooperation Forum this year: Jaishan Su

Suva [Fiji]China News Service, February 16 (Xinhua) Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar said on Thursday that India hopes to co-host the third summit of the Forum for Indo-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) in the next few months.

“We hope to co-host the third summit of the Forum for Indo-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) in the coming months and we certainly value Fiji’s presence and leadership on that occasion,” Jaishankar said in a joint press statement with Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Minister Rabuka is here today.

Read also | UFO over Stonehenge? Workers claim ‘morphing’ flying object over English Heritage site in TikTok video.

FIPIC was launched in November 2014 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Fiji. It is a multinational bloc between India and 14 Pacific Island countries, including Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

All the Heads of State/Government of the above mentioned countries met in Suva, Fiji in November 2014 and conceived the annual summit.

Read also | The Bangladesh High Court has said that marital status is not a mandatory condition for admission to educational institutions.

The purpose of the forum is to provide necessary information and facilitation on trade and investment prospects, facilitate meetings between concerned businessmen from both sides, exchange of business delegations between India and Pacific island countries, online and offline matchmaking services, organization of events/trade Fair, according to the FIPIC website.

According to the website, India’s focus is mainly on the Indian Ocean, where it seeks to play a significant role and protect its strategic and commercial interests. The FIPIC initiative marks a serious effort by India to expand its participation in the Pacific.

Jaishankar, who arrived at Suva Airport today, met with Fijian President Ratu Wiliam Maivalili Katoniwere and attended the commissioning of the solar panel event.

This is the foreign minister’s first visit to Fiji.

The Foreign Minister met with the Prime Minister of Fiji and held delegation-level talks. “We reviewed our bilateral relationship. We discussed very openly the possibility of adding substance and improving quality. The Prime Minister mentioned some specific areas in his speech,” Jaishankar said in a joint statement.

“Today, we discussed regional and global issues of mutual concern. We agreed to work more closely, strengthen our multilateral cooperation, and work vigorously in international organizations,” EAM said.

Jaishankar spoke about the launch of the Pacific Heads of State Residence Daylighting Project backed by the Government of India, which he said reflects India’s strong commitment to climate action and climate justice.

“This project reflects India’s strong commitment to climate action and climate justice, which also underscores our shared priority with the Pacific islands on the very important challenge of climate change,” he said.

The foreign minister also stated that the two countries have signed an agreement on mutual visa exemption. “It will certainly help to encourage more travel between our two countries. And I would also like to say that the World Hindi Congress experience will also definitely inspire all the delegates, their friends and relatives, and I’m sure there are many of them, Come to Fiji too,” Jaishankar said. (Arnie)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)