Prime Minister Narendra Modi co-chaired the third India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit with his Papua New Guinea counterpart. During his speech, he mentioned that the countries in the Global South were hit the hardest during the Covid-19 pandemic. He also expressed disappointment that those whom he trusted did not stand with him in times of need. He highlighted that supply chains for fuel, food, fertilizers, and pharmaceuticals were disrupted. This disruption affected vulnerable nations in the Global South.
The Indian Prime Minister also referred to Pacific island nations as large ocean countries instead of small island states. He mentioned that challenges related to climate change, natural disasters, hunger, poverty, and health have always been present. The pandemic added new problems to the existing challenges.
Modi expressed his happiness that India stood by its friendly Pacific Island countries during difficult times. Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape called Modi the leader of Global South and pledged to support India’s leadership at global forums. The Pacific Island nations that participated in the summit include Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Republic of Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Modi arrived in Papua New Guinea from Japan where he attended the summit of G7 advanced economies and held bilateral meetings with several world leaders.
