What is the FIPIC summit that PM Modi attended in Papua New Guinea?

FIPIC includes 14 island countries – Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu – that are located in the Pacific Ocean, to the northeast of Australia.

What was the idea behind FIPIC?

According to the group’s website, despite their relatively small size and considerable distance from India, many of these islands have large exclusive economic zones (EEZs). EEZs is the distance up to which a coastal nation has jurisdiction over the ocean, including both living and non-living resources. It generally goes to 200 nautical miles or 230 miles (around 370 km) beyond a nation’s territorial sea.

As the website notes, India’s larger focus is on the Indian Ocean where it has sought to play a major role and protect its strategic and commercial interests. The FIPIC initiative then marks a serious effort to expand India’s engagement in the Pacific region as well. After the summit, PM Modi went for his visit to Sydney, Australia, from May 23 and 24. The references to “developments in the Indo-Pacific region” and a “vision for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific” are believed to be related to China’s increasing assertion in the region.

On Monday, the PM also said at the FIPIC summit,“A friend in need is a friend indeed”, and told leaders of the 14 countries that those that they had considered trustworthy were “not standing by our sides in times of need” – again believed to be a reference to China.

During his visit, the Prime Minister will have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Albanese on May 24, 2023. He will also interact with Australian CEOs and business leaders.

Based on 2021-22 data, the total annual trade between India and Pacific Island countries is valued at $570 million, in commodities such as plastics, pharmaceuticals, sugar, mineral fuel and ores. Among them, Papua New Guinea is the biggest trade partner in terms of value.

And what is the FIPIC summit?

This was the third FIPIC summit to be held.

FIPIC-I, in 2014, took place at Suva, Fiji’s capital city. India announced various development assistance initiatives and other cooperation projects in areas of climate change, trade, economy, telemedicine and teleeducation, IT, grants for community development projects, etc.

At FIPIC-II in 2015 in Jaipur, India again announced similar initiatives. India also approached the event from a large diplomatic perspective, calling for a “dedicated seat for Small Island Developing States in an expanded and reformed UN Security Council in both categories”.

“Our challenges are similar. Climate change is an existential threat to the Pacific Islands. We both seek a concrete and effective outcome on climate change at the Conference of Parties-21 in Paris later this year,” the Prime Minister also said at the summit.

In 2019, the India-Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) Leaders’ Meeting (comprising delegations of 12 out of the 14 Pacific Islands countries) was held on September 24, 2019 in New York on the sidelines of the 74th UN General Assembly.

The Indian government then announced an allocation of $12 million grant ($1 million to each PSIDS) towards implementation of high-impact developmental projects in the area of their choice. In addition, a concessional Line of Credit of $150 million, which can be availed by the PSIDS for undertaking solar, renewable energy and climate related projects based on each country’s requirement, was announced.

What happened at the FIPIC summit 2023?

The third FIPIC summit was to be held in early 2020 but was postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. During his concluding remarks, the prime minister announced initiatives such as:

*Establishment of a super-specialty cardiology hospital in Fiji. “The Indian government will bear the full cost of this mega greenfield project”, the PM said.

*Sea ambulances will be provided to all the 14 Pacific island countries.

*He noted that in 2022, a Jaipur Foot Camp was conducted in Fiji where prosthetic limbs were provided free of cost to more than 600 people. He said another similar camp will be set up in Papua New guinea this year and starting from 2024, two such camps will be organised every year in the Pacific island countries.

*The PM also pledged to provide desalination units for the people of every Pacific Island country.