NEW DELHI - When Prime Minister Narendra Modi lands in Port Moresby on Sunday, he will signal a seminal shift in India's relationship with Papua New Guinea (PNG), as well as other island countries in Oceania.
This is the first visit by an Indian prime minister to PNG, where Mr Modi will co-host the third summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC), marking India's growing importance for these Pacific Countries Island (PICs) and its willingness to help them meet some of their key development needs.
It is a strategy necessary not just because of India's attempts to carve a foothold in Oceania, amid ongoing geopolitical competition in the region, but also because it is integral to its efforts to legitimise the country's claims of being the "Voice of the Global South".
"This is a groundbreaking visit," said Dr Swati Prabhu, associate fellow at the Delhi-based think-tank Observer Research Foundation. "It is important from the perspective of India's development partnership programme and also its G-20 presidency, where India is trying to represent the Global South." These islands, with a population of over 11 million people, face a multitude of critical issues, including the need for climate resilience and disaster risk reduction, besides affordable healthcare, quality education and low-cost renewable energy.
This story is from the May 21, 2023 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the May 21, 2023 edition of The Straits Times.
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