India & South Pacific: Key takeaways from PM Modi’s visit; China’s diplomatic presence
Key takeaways from PM’s visit to the region where China is a powerful diplomatic presence and rival: establishing a reassuring presence not predicated on chequebook diplomacy; amplification of the voice of the Global South; providing a viable, friendly option to countries who would like to avoid binary choices between the major power blocs.
Written by Shubhajit Roy
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New Delhi | Updated: May 26, 2023 11:56 IST
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When PM Narendra Modi arrived in Port Moresby on May 21, his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape greeted him by touching his feet.X
Visuals of Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape touching Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s feet have been seen as a reflection of India’s global status, and the significance of its engagement with Pacific Island Countries (PICs) and the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC).
After meeting United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who stood in for President Joe Biden who had to return to the US for talks on the debt ceiling crisis, Marape said: “This is an extraordinary day for us. We have two extremely important meetings today — separated but joined at the hip, if I can call it this way.”
PICs is a cluster of 14 island nations dotting the Southwestern Pacific: the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. All these islands are located at the crossroads of strategically important maritime trade corridors...
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