Transcript of Special Briefing by Secretary (East) on the visit of President to Fiji (August 06, 2024)
India - Ministry of External Affairs
August 06, 2024
Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): Good afternoon everybody. "Ni sa bula vinaka". As you all know, Honorable Rashtrapati ji is on a three-country visit to this region, and Fiji is her first leg. We are happy to announce that it was a very warm and historic visit so far. It is the first ever visit by Rashtrapati ji to Fiji, and we would like to convey our sincere gratitude and appreciation for the gracious hospitality that has been accorded to Honorable Rashtrapati ji and her entire delegation by the Government and people of Fiji.
As you know, India and Fiji share a very special and enduring bond, going back almost a century and a half, and India and Fiji have been strengthening our engagements with each other, and it has been India's endeavor to strengthen our engagement with the Pacific region as a whole, bilaterally with the countries of the region, and under our action-oriented Forum for India and the Pacific Islands Cooperation, or what we call FIPIC. And Fiji remains our very special partner in Indo-Pacific. If you remember, Honorable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi ji, inaugurated the first FIPIC Summit here in Fiji, in Suva, and so it is in this context that the visit of Rashtrapati ji assumes great significance. This certainly marks a new chapter as we further boost the strong momentum that has been generated by the increasing level of high-level contacts between our two nations during the past several years, and which was also marked by 75 years of India's diplomatic presence in Fiji.
And now going to the elements of the program, as you know, Rashtrapati ji landed in Suva from Nadi in the morning today, and upon arrival, she was accorded the Guard of Honor by the Fiji Military Police, followed by a traditional welcome, which was attended by the Prime Minister. And it was along the way from the airport, it was heartwarming to see hundreds of school children lining the roads and really shouting their greetings to Rashtrapati ji. That was a very, very moving experience.
At the State House, Rashtrapati ji met the President of Fiji, His Excellency Ratu Wiliame Maivalili Katonivere. Together, they viewed the solarization project of the State House, which was completed by India as part of our development partnership, and the project also reflects India's strong commitment to climate action and climate justice. Prime Minister, His Excellency Sitiveni Rabuka also called on Rashtrapati ji, along with several of his ministerial colleagues, and they held wide-ranging discussions in which they reaffirmed the mutual trust and the strong commitment towards enhancing our bilateral relationship for progress and prosperity of the people of both our countries. The President of Fiji also had conferred upon our President the Order of Fiji, which was deeply appreciated by Rashtrapati ji and her delegation.
Rashtrapati ji then addressed the Fijian Parliament in a historic address and had an interaction with Members of Parliament, which further reaffirmed the strong democratic linkages between our two countries. She also paid respects by garlanding the bust of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, just a little while ago, and also placed a wreath at the National War Memorial in Suva.
Early in the afternoon, Prime Minister hosted a lunch for the visiting Rashtrapati ji and her delegation. A community interaction was also held today, where Rashtrapati ji addressed community members of Indian origin in Fiji and hailed the contribution of Girmitiyas, recognizing their immense contribution to the growth and development of Fiji, and also fostering ties between our two nations. I think a large part of our close and long-standing bilateral ties is built on people to people linkages and almost a third of the Fijian population traced their roots to India, while at the same time they retained their culture, traditions, and language, but with typical Fijian flavor.
Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Biman Prasad also gathered at the Indian community event. Rastrapati ji appreciated the declaration of a national holiday on the occasion of Girmit Diwas every year, and also the fact that Hindi is now one of the official languages of Fiji. Later in the evening today, President Katonivere will be hosting a reception in honor of Rashtrapati ji.
An important outcome of the visit was the formal allocation of the project site for the 100-bedded Super Speciality Hospital to be established in Suva as a Government of India grant in aid projects, which was announced by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji at the 3rd FIPIC Summit in 2023, that is last year. We are confident that this critical infrastructure for public good, will bring a paradigm change in the delivery of quality and affordable health care, not just to Fiji, but to the entire Pacific region. Another important outcome of this visit was the allocation of land by the Fijian Government for the construction of our High Commission premises and the Indian Cultural Centre in Suva.
Let me conclude here by saying that Rashtrapati ji's visit not only reinforces the long-standing friendship between India and Fiji, but also sets the stage for elevating our multi-faceted partnership with Fiji to the next phase. Thank you and if you have any questions, I would be happy to respond.
Shri Rajesh Parihar, Director (XPD): Thank you Sir. Now, I open the floor for questions. You may introduce yourself before asking the question.
Vandana: Sir I am Vandana (Inaudible) from DD News. I'd like to know where does India see the future of India-Fiji relations as a partner in the Pacific region, and across sectors.
Sri Sai: Sir my name is Sri Sai, I am from All India Radio. My question is Sir, what investment opportunities do Indians have in Fiji here? And my second question is we are mentioning here about people to people connect, so what does the Indian High Commissioner Office do here so that these relations are continuously fostered and taken forward? Thank you.
Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): Thank you. So for the first question, as I said, we count upon Fiji as one of our really key partners in the region. Going forward, we see a bright future. We are accelerating our relations in many, many diverse fields, for example, health is one of them. In terms of digital public infrastructure, there's a lot of good work that is happening to bring India's digital public infrastructure for use in the public administration in Fiji for delivery of services, which I think will be a real game changer. That is another area. Tourism is also something that has good potential, I was talking to somebody about how now in India we have direct flights to Australia, of course, and also to Bali, so it's easier for people to travel to India, even though you do not have direct flights. So these are some of the areas which I think, immediately, are things that could really benefit the relationship. Another area is education, which is also something that we can look at. In terms of investment opportunities, I'm sure tourism is such an obvious area for investment from India. Those of you who have been to India may know that we have some of the finest hotel chains in the world, and it's a pity they are not here in Fiji. If they were, I suppose then you would have many more Indian tourists as well. They have Indian hotels in many places of the world, not just in our neighborhood, but as far away as in Egypt and in Europe and elsewhere. So I'm sure that that is an opportunity of investment that is there.
Our High Commissioner is here, of course. He will have many more ideas about investment opportunities from India. And as to people-to-people, he's the best person to brief you on, if you have a question about that. But from what I know, as being Secretary (East) in the Ministry, they do a lot in terms of scholarships, for example, for people to go and study or train in India in different areas, in traditional medicine, in promoting Yoga, of course. You all know that. And the rest, I will leave to him to explain what they are doing.
Shri P. S. Karthigeyan, High Commissioner of India to Fiji: Thank you Sir. To add to what Secretary (East) mentioned about, first, the business opportunities, the investment opportunities rather, and then I'll go to the diaspora sector initiatives. In terms of investment opportunities, it's very obvious, because more than 40% of the country's GDP comes from tourism sector alone, as Secretary mentioned. I mean, it has tremendous potential for attracting investment from India. And we are aware of the requirement in terms of the capacity of the tourism sector. And I'm happy to state that, just a couple of months back, when we had facilitated the visit of Honorable Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Viliame Gavoka, who's also the Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism, we had set up, especially meetings with these top Indian hospitality groups, like the Taj and the Oberoi. I understand the discussions are currently ongoing, so we'll be hoping to see some Indian interest in fructifying here.
With regard to other opportunities, again, I see a lot of opportunities in the digital sector. I mean, we are not going to be just limited by the engagement with the diaspora side. We want to get it to the next stage, like other, you know, knowledge, especially in that regard, the digital partnership is something which we are keenly focusing on. And again, it's a happy coincidence that there's also a lot of interest from Fiji, considering the expertise and the ways we have been leveraging digital technology in India to transform both... improve both ease of living, as well as the ease of doing business. There's a lot of interest from Fiji also to do, I mean, things with us in the digital cooperation side, so discussions are underway, and perhaps we'll be able to announce something soon.
With regard to the diaspora centric initiatives, as was mentioned by Sir, by Secretary (East), in recent years, we have seen unprecedented, kind of, number of high-level political exchanges which have solidly put us on a very strong trajectory as far as our multifaceted partnerships is concerned. But parallelly, we are also aware that, like Fiji being a major diaspora country, it is important to engage with all stakeholders, including the Government of Fiji and the diaspora organizations, the community organizations here, to further nourish and strengthen the unique cultural linkage that we have. So whether it is in terms of, like celebrating the 12th World Hindi Conference, the historic event, a global event, that we did jointly with the Government of Fiji last year, or the ongoing efforts to revive and restart the teaching of Tamil language here in Fiji, in partnership with Ministry of Education, Government of Fiji, and a leading diaspora community organization, Sangam; or like celebrating or commemorating the Girmit legacy, or even reconnecting the diaspora youth back to the land of their ancestors. We have been actively working on that.
In fact, on this program, called Know India program, which is meant for the Indian diaspora youth from around the world, I'm happy to state that Fiji is the country which uses the highest number of slots in the entire world. And that is accredited to the keen interest that is shown by the diaspora community here in getting connected back with the roots. Also, we have the privilege of working with many other diaspora community organizations, and there are a number of opportunities which we have to engage with them and strengthen this linkage. For example, we were part of the historic centenary celebrations of the Samabula Gurudwara Sahib here, the oldest Gurudwara in the entire Pacific. And we will be shortly doing something with the centenary celebrations in the Howell's Road, Sangam Temple as well.
So these are initiatives that are going on around the year. In fact, even during the historic Pran-pratistha ceremony in Ayodhya, perhaps this is the only country where our cultural center had got a cultural group right from Ayodhya, and we did our own, like, Ram Lalla Utsav here, throughout the country, to make sure that people of Indian origin do not miss out on that historic opportunity.
So this is something which we are keenly aware of, and we are very focused on, and this will continue. I'm confident that, as I was telling our friends a couple of days back, the best is yet to come, as far as the relationship with Fiji is concerned. Thank you.
Vivek: Good evening Sir. Myself Vivek Pathak, I'm from DD News. Sir, two days back, we got a chance to meet with the Deputy Prime Minister of Fiji, Mr. Biman Prasad ji. He highlighted two places where he wants to engage with India. First is tourism, and in tourism sector, he specifically highlighted of promoting Fiji as a wedding destination. And he categorically said that he wants India to engage with Fiji in this particular aspect. And second, he said that he also wants India to engage with Fiji on agriculture. They want more agricultural cooperation. Sir, are there any plans in the near future?
Shri P. S. Karthigeyan, High Commissioner of India to Fiji: See, I think tourism, we've already discussed, what is the potential and what can be done. Unfortunately, the number of Indian tourists coming to Fiji, as a tourist destination, is very, very low. Last year, I believe, the total number of tourists that came to this country was about 929,000. But I understand, right from India, I think it was like hardly a few thousands. So there is of course... it's the world's largest market and the fastest growing market. So it would certainly be logical for the stakeholders on this side, whether it is the tourism companies or Fiji Airways and other stakeholders, to look at the Indian market to connect them better, to give them assured and regular connectivity. Because that is one major stumbling block which we see in getting Indian tourists from mainland to coming here. So, once I think those issues are set right, the connectivity, I think then automatically you'll see. Because Indians are one of the fastest growing markets and also one of the highest spending tourists around the world. So that is more up to the Fijian stakeholders to look at how they will engage with the fastest market.
The other one about the agriculture part, we are strongly engaged in agriculture. This is one of our core areas where we are focused for many, many decades. Even now as I speak, there is an Indian expert, perhaps the only plant pathologist in the entire South Pacific is a Government of India deputed officer. She's working with the Sugercane Research Institute of Fiji. This is an Indian expert, funded by Government of India. So there are 'n' number of people like that. We had also, just a month or two back, sent a delegation of Fijian farmers to India to learn the best practices, to visit the research stations, and to see how best they can adopt the technology to further develop the agriculture sector here. But we remain open to doing more. Agriculture is one area where I see a lot of potential here in Fiji. And we will be happy to go by the requirements from the Fijian side. As was mentioned during the remarks earlier, our development partnership is very unique because it's totally demand driven. What is the priority? And at what pace you are comfortable? That is how we go. So we would be ready to hear from our friends here to know about what is the priority area. And then we will accordingly partner with them to build a stronger and resilient relationship.
Speaker: Sir, are there any plans for direct flight connectivity between India and Fiji?
Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): This is, of course, a subject that has come up again and again in conversations. As you know, in India now, all the airlines are privately held. These will really be commercial decisions that they will make. But certainly in so far as pointing out the opportunities are concerned, we will point to the airlines that there are significant opportunities for tourism with Fiji.
Mansi: Sir, Mansi from (Inaudible) News. I would just like to know, as you guys have spoken more about tourism, and as they have spoken about also the fewer number of people coming from India to Fiji in terms of tourism, how will the Indian government ensure that this increases, and Fiji gets more tourists from India?
Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): We'd be happy to work with your High Commission in Delhi to promote tourism. I was talking to your High Commissioner who was here for the visit, and he was saying how there is so little awareness about Fiji, outside the big cities. In Delhi, of course, people know, but if you go to other cities, maybe they are not so aware how to get to Fiji, what is there that is in offer. They know that Fiji is a close partner country of India in the Pacific. They know that it has a large population of Indian origin. Apart from that, they don't know about the beauty of the place or the facilities, the lovely hotels that you have, which is not really well known. So I think we can certainly partner with your High Commissioner in promoting Fijian tourism in India.
Mansi: I have another question Sir. As you have mentioned... the focus of the Indian President in Fiji at the sign of the agreement, is there any other further discussion that has taken place in terms of future development plans between India and Fiji?
Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): So we discussed the broad areas that I mentioned, which is health sector, which is not just only the issue of the hospital that we are building, but also in terms of implementation of the Indian pharmacopeia, the recognition of the Indian pharmacopeia, the availability of inexpensive but world-class generic medicines from India, which will really help. It is already helping the Fijian health sector, but it could do more. So that is one whole area. And the other area, as I mentioned about the digital public infrastructure, which can also be a game changer, both in terms of creating a start-up environment in Fiji, for example, for the entire digital space, and also in the delivery of public goods to the people. So these are some of the large areas that we discussed.
Speaker 2: My name is (Inaudible), and I'm an reporter of Fiji Times. My question is, while Fiji is struggling with drug crisis, and with this visit, is there any way, or will India be assisting Fiji in battling this issue of drugs in Fiji? And if you are, how?
Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): You know, as the High Commissioner mentioned, our development partnership is very much demand-driven, and whatever Fiji government and the Fijian people want, we'd be very happy to look at that and see how we can contribute to that. At the moment, I can't say that we have any direct cooperation in the drug issue, the drug problem, but we have issues back in our own country, so we have some tools to deal with it. So if Fiji feels that they may require some assistance in that, we'd be very happy to look at it.
Speaker 3: Good evening Sir. Welcome to Fiji, I am (Inaudible) from Fiji Live. I've got two questions for you, Sir. Just now you mentioned about the exchanges being demand-driven, my first question will be around medical tourism, given that high number of Fijians are travelling to India for treatments, how can this be further strengthen? Then my second question will be around sports and cultural diplomacy, between the two nations. I'll quote two examples; in particular, the sports diplomacy, our greatest tennis player is now your national coach for (inaudible), and in terms of cultural exchange and diplomacy, we've had recent visits of bollywood stars like Rakul Preet Singh and Jackky Bhagnani, and then previously we have had Ileana D'Cruz who came here as an Ambassador. So just your thoughts and comments, please.
Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): As far as medical tourism is concerned, we have tried to make things easier for tourists. We have e-medical visas, so electronic medical visas are available. So that makes it much easier and smoother process. You don't have to go in person. You arrive there and you get your visa stamped on your passport. So, that is certainly something. And then there are large Indian hospital groups which have also come to Fiji to acquaint the people about what are the facilities that are available. In fact just before I left one large group also approached me to brief me about what they are doing in offering their services for medical tourists from Fiji. So I think that is one area where there is a lot of potential because we have people from as far away as... from the Philippines which is not too far away from you, who travel to India from some of the Pacific Island countries as well like Palau, for example. They go to India for the treatment not because it is inexpensive but mainly because it is very good and also inexpensive. So even if they have to travel by air, even if they have to go and stay there, they still find it a better package than what alternatives they have.
As far as sports diplomacy is concerned, yes I think we, kind of, talked about it. The President did mention about our national coach and if I may let out a secret. Her son-in-law is a rugby player so, you know, she knows rugby and she is interested in the subject. So I think that is another thing that is binding us together at the moment, India and Fiji. So she did mention that maybe one day, we are not as good as you yet, but maybe one day we will be able to have a match between us. Yes, we look forward to that. That will be some technology transfer from Fiji to India. We look forward to that
Speaker 4: Sir just add on, we also have our Roy Krishna, the national captain, doing quite well, for Odisha FC. Are there any opportunities for Indian football clubs (Inaudible)?
Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): Yes, certainly. Why not? That could be a good idea.
Speaker 5: I am (inaudible) from Fijian Broadcasting Corporation. I hope that India is highly looking to improving Fiji's tourism sector, but I guess it is only right to say that the Pacific economy is sort of drowning because of the impact of climate change. I also noted that India was the third most polluted country in the world, as of last year. The ranking the year before there, India was 8th. What is India doing to improve on its emission and also what are the plans, what are the things in place to subsidise for the impact it has on the Pacific and its people?
Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): So there are two kinds of things. Firstly, I would say without hesitation that I think, in India today, we have one of the most ambitious clean energy and renewable energy programs in the world. We have a target of more than 500 gigawatts and that is really a combination of solar and wind and other forms, biodiesel being one, which will really change the atmosphere literally and figuratively speaking in India with regard to energy and pollution.
So that is one and the other is that we are working with you, we are working with countries like you, in how to harness renewable energy for your needs. So today, for example, the President toured the Government House where the solar facilities, solar panels have been installed and how it is now powered with solar energy. Similarly, we have trained what we call solar Mamas all over the Pacific Islands, not only in the Pacific Islands, in the Caribbean, in Latin America. These are basically grandmothers in their respective villages who install solar kits and they are trained to do that, and they are trained to maintain those solar kits for their individual villages so that they can harness energy where they don't have any access to energy.
So these are just two examples of what we have been doing. And I must say that I have seen in my own eyes how over the last decade or so, the government's complete attitude towards climate change and the need to address climate change has undergone a complete revolution.
Today, we have, the Prime Minister has announced a program called LiFE, basically, it is Lifestyle for the Environment, which is how every individual, by his own actions, by his or her own actions, by his or her own attitude towards how energy is used, can influence how the planet responds to the crisis that we are facing. So I think you will find in India a very sympathetic as well as very active partner in how you address climate change issues that are really affecting Pacific Island countries in a very big way.
Shri P. S. Karthigeyan, High Commissioner of India to Fiji: I'd just like to add...one another project which we are doing in this very specific area. We know that climate change is an existential issue in the Pacific, but not many people, I'm sure, are aware that one of the most innovative projects here in Fiji that is happening right now is being funded by the Government of India. This is the parametric micro-insurance product that was launched for the first time in Fiji. It was piloted very successfully in 2021 and now it has been scaled up and when it is fully completed it will be covering about 5,000 households. The most marginalized section of the Fijian households, 5,000 of them, will be covered under this. And this was launched, the scaled up version was launched in October last. Sir, under this, the trigger for getting the insurance claim, I mean, it becomes much more easier. They don't need to, kind of, individually do it like in the conventional sense. So if there is a climate event happening in a particular area, they don't need to meet any other threshold. People who are covered under this micro-insurance facility, they need to pay, I think, hardly a dollar a day. But they are assured of the minimum coverage and trigger, as I said, the threshold is very low. And this is being done in partnership with the UN agencies. UNDP is a partner here and it is happening. We had launched it in the Western Division in Tawa area, near Bau. And it's successfully being implemented on the ground as we speak.
There are other programs also, it'll be too many to list out. Secretary was talking about the solarization of Heads of State residence that honorable President visited even today in the State House. In fact, this is supposed to be done in each of Head of the State residences around the Pacific. But in Fiji, we have already done it for the President's house. We have done it for the residence of the Chief of the Kubuna presidency in Bau Island. And we have also done it for the Great Council of Chief's Hall. And very soon, we'll be also commissioning one for the official residence of the Prime Minister. This is not just only for demonstrative purpose. We have also gone to the ground and we've already solarized about 350 houses, Fijian houses, in the rural areas under the solarization program.
And as Secretary was mentioning, people also have been trained under the solar Mamas program so that it's self-sufficient. There is no need to, kind of, constantly be dependent on some other partner. So this is working successfully even now. There are many more that are under discussions in this area as well. Thank you.
Speaker 6: The Pacific has been prone to a lot of... I mean super-powers are trying to exploit (inaudible) in the Pacific that's what the reports are saying. If you can tell us what is the natural position of India in the Pacific.
Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): I would prefer to keep this conversation about India and Fiji and India and the Pacific Island countries, but since you've asked, let me just say and what the President has also conveyed, Rashtrapati ji has also conveyed to the leadership in Fiji that India is always for a peaceful, stable, prosperous Pacific. In our view, it should be an area where nobody imposes their will on another country, where territorial integrity and sovereignty are respected, and where every nation is an equal. So that's our philosophy.
Shri Rajesh Parihar, Director (XPD): Thank you, Sir. As I see no more requests for questions, so Sir, with your permission, now I conclude this Special Media Briefing. Thank you everyone and this briefing is over.
Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary East: Thank you for your interest and all your questions.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
