Apia, Oct 15 — Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita on Thursday arrived in Samoa’s capital, Apia, on the first leg of his three-nation visit to the Pacific Island countries. Upon his arrival, Margherita said that he is looking forward to deepening cooperation and advancing shared development priorities.
“Arrived in the beautiful city of Apia for my visit to Samoa. Looking forward to productive discussions and high-level engagements as we deepen our cooperation and advance our shared development priorities,” MoS Margherita posted on X.
Margherita will be on an official visit to Samoa, the Cook Islands and Naoero from October 16-22.
During his visit, Margherita is expected to hold bilateral meetings with the senior leadership of the three Pacific Island countries, engage with other key stakeholders and members of the Indian community. He will also visit India-assisted development projects in the region, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated on Tuesday.
“The visit underscores India’s commitment to strengthening its partnership with Pacific Island Countries under the framework of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC), and to further deepening political engagement and development cooperation with the region. It builds on the momentum of the 3rd FIPIC Summit held in Port Moresby in May 2023,” the MEA mentioned in the statement.
In September, India and the Pacific Islands discussed further cooperation in renewable energy, climate action, disaster resilience, education, healthcare and capacity building sectors during a meeting of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Foreign Ministers, chaired by External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar, on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
The meeting witnessed participation from the Pacific Island Countries (PIC), including the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Samoa; the Foreign Ministers of Fiji, Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu; Tonga’s Finance Minister; the Secretary of the Department of Justice and Attorney General of Micronesia; the Health Minister of Vanuatu; the Deputy Foreign Minister of Naoero; and the Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).
“The leaders reviewed the outcomes of the FIPIC Summits and welcomed progress in India-PIC cooperation, including under the 12-Point Action Plan announced in 2023 by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi,” the MEA had mentioned in a statement.
During the meeting, EAM Jaishankar said that India’s approach to the Pacific has consistently been demand-driven, development-oriented and people-centric.