New Delhi, Feb 16 (FN Bureau) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said that India sees Fiji as a very important partner in the Indo-Pacific, even as Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said that India will always be a special friend and trusted partner of Fiji. In remarks during the joint media briefing after their talks in Suva, EAM Jaishankar said the two sides have agreed to work more closely towards strengthening their multilateral cooperation, and work strongly in international organizations. “We particularly focused on the Pacific region because again India sees Fiji as a very important partner in the Indo-Pacific,” he said, adding that India hopes to co-host the third Summit of the Forum for India Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) in the coming months and would value Fiji’s presence and leadership there. EAM Jaishankar stressed that India is “very confident” of the long-standing relations between the two side, and that after his talks with PM Rabuka he was “very assured” that the relationship would scale greater heights, “that it would deliver for the mutual benefit of the peoples, and that our expectations of this relationship would be fully realized.”
Rabuka, in his remarks, said that “India will always be a special friend and trusted partner of Fiji. Together we have built a robust multifaceted partnership which covers cooperation in all major areas of nation building, including agriculture, education, health, climate change and development of micro, small and medium size enterprises, with better focus on training, and capacity building, and capability development.” He said that India has stood by Fiji in times of great need. “We’ve worked shoulder to shoulder to overcome the challenges posed by the climate crises that we now face and recently the Covid-19 pandemic, for which we are forever grateful to the government and people of India for supporting us with the provision of life saving vaccines, humanitarian assistance. “Rabuka said that the meeting with EAM “signifies a landmark achievement in our shared commitment to advance Fiji and Indian cooperation at all levels” and the focus was on greater cooperation in the post pandemic era.
”There are enormous opportunities for increased collaboration in our common shared goals of economic prosperity, climate resilience, peace and security and sustainable development,” he added. Asked by a journalist whether the subject of China’s presence in the Pacific archipelago nation came up during the talks with Jaishankar, Rabuka quickly replied: “We thought it was bad manners to talk about someone who is not in the building.” He added that the two sides spoke about their bilateral cooperation “and we are very fortunate to have such a great power and economy talking to us… In an earlier interview I emphasised on the further strengthening of the relations with India.. We are great old friends.” In May last year, then Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is now the nation’s top diplomat, had held a meeting with counterparts from 10 Pacific island nations in Fiji, during a diplomatic tour of the region where Beijing’s ambitions for wider security ties has caused concern among the US and its allies. The US, Australia, Japan and New Zealand had expressed concern at a security pact signed by the Solomon Islands with China in April last year, saying it could lead to a Chinese military presence there.
China began its ties with the Pacific Islands through investments in the fisheries and mining sector, which slowly expanded to more comprehensive economic, security and diplomatic ties, especially after its announcement of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013. China has also expanded its soft diplomacy, offering Pacific Islanders education in areas such as law, agriculture and journalism, a report said. Wang, during his visit last year, secured 52 bilateral economic and security deals, consolidating Beijing’s status as a regional partner. Though the exact details are not known of the April 2022 security agreement between the Solomon Islands and China, it includes the option for the capital of the Solomon Islands, Honiara, to request the presence of Chinese security forces to maintain social order and ensure the safety of Chinese personnel and projects, the report added.