Transcript of Special briefing by MEA on Visit of Prime Minister of Fiji to India (August 25, 2025)
India - Ministry of External Affairs
August 25, 2025
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I welcome you to this special press briefing by Secretary (South), Dr. Neena Malhotra, on the ongoing visit of the Prime Minister of Fiji.
We also have with us for this briefing, Smt. Paramita Tripathi, who looks after Oceania Division. She's the Joint Secretary looking after Oceania Division in the Ministry of External Affairs. As also, we have our High Commissioner in Fiji, Mr. Suneet Mehta, who's with us. With that, I invite Secretary Madam to give her opening remarks, after which we'll take some questions from the floor.
Ma'am, the floor is yours.
Dr. Neena Malhotra, Secretary (South): Thank you very much, Randhir. A very good afternoon, friends from the media. Thank you for joining this special briefing on the ongoing visit of the Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka of Fiji to India.
I shall start with the program first. As you all probably know, Prime Minister Rabuka arrived yesterday on 24th of August. He was warmly received by Dr. Sukanta Majumdar, Minister of State for Education and Development for North-East region, and he was accorded a static guard reception. Prime Minister Rabuka is accompanied by Minister for Health and Medical Services, Mr. Atonio Lalabalavu, and a delegation comprising of senior officials. Yesterday, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Shri J. P. Nadda, called on Prime Minister Rabuka and PM Rabuka also visited a super-speciality hospital.
Today is the main day of the official bilateral engagements. This morning, PM Rabuka visited Rajghat to pay tribute to father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi. This was followed by extensive bilateral talks at the Hyderabad House. The talks covered the entire gamut of bilateral relations, including political cooperation, high-level engagements, trade, agriculture, education, healthcare, mobility, defense, capacity building, and people-to-people ties. The two leaders also shared the perspective on regional and global issues, including on multilateral cooperation.
The two leaders also witnessed the exchange of nine bilateral documents / MoUs. These are construction, commissioning, operation, and maintenance of a super-speciality hospital in Fiji; an agreement on supply of medicines under our Jan Aushadhi scheme; an MoU on cooperation in standardization between Bureau of Indian Standards and Department of National Measurement and Standards, which is the counterpart body of BIS in Fiji; Another MOU was on the cooperation in the field of human capacity, skilling, and upskilling between National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology of India and Pacific Polytechnic of Fiji; on Indian grant assistance for implementation of quick impact projects; A declaration of intent on migration and mobility was also exchanged; and the Fijian side handed over lease deed of Indian Chancery building in Suva to our High Commissioner.
I may mention the other two MOUs that were concluded on the sidelines. One was between Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Fiji Commerce and Employment Federation (FCEF). The second one was between National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), and Fiji Development Bank.
A number of initiatives to enhance our ongoing development cooperation with Fiji were also announced. The announcements made included a visit of parliamentary delegation and of great Council of Chiefs from Fiji to India in 2026; a port call by an Indian Naval Ship to Fiji in 2025; creation of the post of Defence Attaché in High Commission of India of Fiji; gifting of two ambulances to Royal Fiji Military Forces; establishment of a cyber security training cell in Fiji; Fiji has announced joining the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative of India; We also announced supply of mobile soil testing laboratories to Ministry of Sugar Industry and Multi-Ethnic Affairs of Fiji; supply of agricultural drones to Sugar Research Institute of Fiji under the Ministry of Sugar Industry and Multi-Ethnic Affairs; deputation of a Hindi cum Sanskrit teacher, actually Associate Professor to University of Fiji; deputation of a cricket coach from India for Cricket Fiji, which is their organization; We have also announced deputation of an ITEC expert to Fiji Sugar Corporation and special ITEC training for sugar industry staff of Fiji; Indian Ghee gets access to Fijian market. As you all know, it is very important in Indian cuisine. Support for training for a cohort of pandits from Fiji in India has also been announced. We shall be also having a second Jaipur foot camp in Fiji and a specialised medical treatment in Indian hospitals under the Heal in India program for a certain number of Fijians.
The joint statement which has been agreed between the two countries has been released. And it has the details of all the bilateral documents as well as the announcements. Both Prime Ministers made brief press statements after the exchange of MOUs. A banquet lunch was hosted by Prime Minister Shri Modi in favor of the visiting Prime Minister Rabuka and his delegation at the Hyderabad House.
As regards the other elements of the programme, today PM Rabuka will also call on Honorable Rashtrapati Ji at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Tomorrow on 26th of August, PM Rabuka will visit the UIDAI headquarters, the National Defence College, and a Jan Aaushadhi Kendra. PM Rabuka will deliver a talk on Ocean of Peace at the Indian Council of World Affairs. It is tomorrow at 16:30 Hrs, so those of you who are interested are welcome to join. He will depart for Fiji from New Delhi on 27th of August.
Now, as regards the significance of the visit, this is PM Rabuka's first visit to India in his current capacity. In fact, we have had a series of high-level visits between India and Fiji in the recent past. Honorable Rashtrapati Ji had visited Fiji last year in August 2024. And during that visit, PM Rabuka had called on the President.
PM Modi met PM Rabuka in May 2023 on the sidelines of the Third FIPIC Summit in Port Moresby. And several ministerial visits have also taken place from both sides. In fact, I am told that since the current government came to power, 22 ministerial visits have taken place between the two countries, including the visits of all three Deputy Prime Ministers of Fiji to India. These high-level exchanges serve as an important strategic platform to advance our cooperation in diverse spheres.
India and Fiji have historical and cultural ties. Fiji, with its significant Indian diaspora and historical connections to India, holds a place of special importance. And development assistance is the key pillar of our bilateral cooperation. And we have taken a number of initiatives in this regard.
I think I shall stop here for the time being, and then take some questions.
Keshav Padmanabhan, ThePrint: Thank you. Keshav Padmanabhan from ThePrint. I just wanted to ask about the defense and security partnership because there are I think three paragraphs in The Joint Statement regarding this; as well as the Prime Minister has mentioned it in their statement.
So what are the sort of themes that we are looking at in terms of the defense and security partnership, maritime security ... some clarity on that ... I would be grateful for. Thank you.
Rishikesh, PTI: Rishikesh from PTI. So Fiji Prime Minister has openly opposed China's military bases in Pacific region and today PM Modi has announced that India has prepared action plan in strengthening defense and security. So has the Fijian Prime Minister shared reasons for opposing China's military bases, and the reasons for supporting our action plan?
Parul Chandra, Independent Journalist: Hi, this is Parul Chandra. I am an independent journalist. My question is what strategic role does India see Fiji playing within the larger framework of the Indo-Pacific, especially given China's growing footprints in the Indo-Pacific region?
Ayanangsha Maitra: Madam, this is Ayanangsha Maitra. Agni Deo Singh, a key minister, the Employment Minister of Fiji once announced that they are working to increase the skill levels in taking capacity from India. So, is there any talk on upskilling Indian youths as well as employing Indian as well?
Dr. Neena Malhotra, Secretary (South): Thank you for your questions. Let me begin with defense and security. I think we have an MoU on defense with Fiji already and last month we had the first meeting of the JWG on defense cooperation. A number of areas were outlined for collaboration between the two countries.
We have also announced establishment of a post of Defense Attaché in the High Commission of Fiji who will be covering the Pacific Islands as well. As of now, I think our defense and security collaboration is focused on enhancing the maritime capabilities of Fiji by providing capacity building and training. There have been some requests of the equipment also, so we are looking at that also.
Overall, in the Indo-Pacific region, Fiji is a valued partner in the Indo-Pacific. In fact, you may recall that Prime Minister Modi had visited Fiji within six months of his taking over in 2014, and that is when we had launched the Forum for India and Pacific Island Cooperation, FIPIC as we call it ... during his visit.
Fiji is a kind of a regional hub in the Pacific. It provides important air and shipping links to the other countries in the region, and plays an important role in the regional body which is called Pacific Island Forum, also in the other regional bodies and institutions of the Pacific.
Currently, they are chairing the Melanesian Spearhead Group which is a sub-regional organization, MSG, comprising of four countries. It also hosts the headquarters of Pacific Island Forum and the prestigious University of Pacific which is the University of South Pacific.
In fact, many of our projects which are aimed at social and development progress of the entire Pacific region are also located in Fiji. For instance, SCORI which is the Sustainable Coastal and Ocean Research Institute which we set up in 2024 and also the IT Centre, they are in Suva.
In fact, the super-specialty hospital that we announced today which is being constructed in Suva, and will be also operated by India is also expected to cater to the entire Pacific region. So together, India and Fiji are committed to advancing our shared vision of peace, prosperity and sustainable development in the region.
Fiji has also joined many of our global initiatives. In fact, it's a member of GBA, it's a member of also ISA, it is also a member of Coalition for Disaster Resilience Infrastructure. In fact, that's a very important part of our collaboration because disaster relief and climate change are two issues which are very, very dear to all the Pacific island states. And during this visit, Fiji has also announced joining IPOI, that is Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative. So in a number of areas, I think together we are collaborating in order to have a free, open, inclusive and sustainable Pacific Ocean.
Regarding the PM action points ... I think PM has announced today. And we are also in fact looking at enhancing our collaboration both bilaterally as well as in the regional forum ... that is Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation. And we have had several meetings. In fact, we also organized a conference on sustainable development in the recent past, and we have been having meetings even on the sidelines. In fact, even in UNGA on the sidelines, we have been meeting six countries. So there are a number of areas where I think we are collaborating together.
Regarding the skills level, I think we have signed today the Declaration of Intent for Migration and Mobility. This should improve the going of professionals and students and other semi-skilled personnel to Fiji from India. In fact, Fiji already grants visa on arrival to Indians, so there is no specific requirement from the Indian side for travel of Indians to Fiji.
Mr. Agni Deo Singh, Minister of Labor of Fiji had visited India in February this year and he has underlined that Fiji has shortages in several sectors and there is a discussion going on in this regard on how to enhance mobility of labor and professionals to Fiji. And as I said, we have already signed the Declaration of Intent on Migration and Mobility and that should be helpful in this regard.
Niraj Dubey, Prabha Sakshi: Ji namaskar main Neeraj Dubey Prabha Sakshi se. Mere do sawal hain ek to aatankvaad ka bhi zikr aaya hai to isme kya Pahalgam aatanki hamle par khaastaur par baatcheet hui ? Doosra krishi kshetra mein jo samjhaute hue hain usme hum 12 agri drone aur 2 mobile soil testing labs vagaira dene ja rahe hain to yeh Bharatiya krishi startups ke liye bhi wahan sambhavna ke dwaar khul rahe hain ?
[Approximate Translation: Question in Hindi] Greetings, I am Neeraj Dubey from Prabha Sakshi. I have two questions — first, since terrorism was also mentioned, was there specific discussion on the Pahalgam terrorist attack? Second, regarding the agreements in the agriculture sector, we are going to provide 12 agri-drones and two mobile soil testing labs, among other things. Does this also open up opportunities there for Indian agri-startups?
Divya, Indian Express: Divya from Indian Express. We spoke about the migration and mobility agreement. You said there are some sectors. Could you specify what sectors and when do we plan to make it actionable, the agreement?
Dr. Neena Malhotra, Secretary (South): I will take these two first. Yes, certainly, as you said.
Let me start with the second question first. Some sectors where we see enormous possibilities, I would list out ... I think, at least three, four. One, of course, agriculture. Second, fisheries. Third, construction. And fourth, tourism. I will elaborate.
I think in the area of agriculture, if you notice in Fiji, where people from India had gone as indentured labour for sugar plantations. Now, their sugar industry is going down. In fact, it is happening in many small island developing states that the agriculture sector is not very prominent anymore, whereas people had gone there as indentured labour for sugarcane plantations, for cocoa plantations, etc. But over the years, tourism has evolved so much that the entire focus is on tourism. In some island countries, you have oil and gas like Trinidad and Tobago, so they are more focused on that. So there is an over-dependence on tourism. So that is why the other sectors of the economy have not developed very well.
So that is the reason, in fact, and this has happened also post-COVID, when tourism took a big hit, that many of these countries are trying to diversify their economies, and are looking for skilled labour and skilled professionals from abroad. So agriculture is an area where we see enormous possibilities. We already have an MoU on agriculture with them. We are supplying agriculture drones, as is listed in the joint statement. And that is an area which we consider as an area of our strength. And Fiji has a very conducive climate. There is plenty of rainfall. And as of now, the agriculture is very, very limited. So I definitely see a lot of possibilities for our entrepreneurs, for joint ventures, etc. And they have the possibility of leasing the land. And there is a possibility of contract farming. We also discussed today the possibility of natural farming, etc. So there are a lot of possibilities in that sector.
Second, I think today Prime Minister shared that there is a lot of construction that they are expecting would happen. They are planning to have a new airport. They are planning to have another port. They are also planning to construct tourism-related infrastructure. There are not enough hotels in that country. So that is another area where we see a lot of possibility.
Tourism-related infrastructure also has possibilities because it's a country which has nearly 9,28,000 people, but it receives over 1 million tourists per annum. It's more than their population. The majority of the tourists are from Australia and also New Zealand and USA, but there's not much tourist traffic from India to Fiji. So there's a possibility of, say, Fiji's development as a wedding destination, Fiji's development as a destination for our Bollywood. So, there are a lot of possibility in the tourism sector.
Similarly, in the fishery sector as well. They have, some possibilities for tuna processing. In fact, India imports tuna from Fiji, but fisheries as an industry hasn't developed that much. I think we are really a big power in fisheries nowadays. We are the largest in the shrimp production. We are also venturing into pearl farming, which is a very promising area for the South Sea countries because South Sea pearls, as we know, are world famous.
They do some pearl farming, but on a very small scale. So, in the pearl farming sector, in the fisheries sector. Also, they have a lot of corals, but they export raw corals, and there's no coral jewellery, etc. So those are the allied kind of sectors where there's a lot of possibility. So these are the areas, I think, where we see a lot of enormous possibilities.
Aatankvaad ... jaisa ki aapne kaha bilkul unhone infact humein kaafi support kiya tha. Jab Pahalgam ka incident hua tha, toh wahan se ek bahut achhi ek statement aayi thi. Unhone kaha tha ki hum Bharat ke saath khade hain. Aaj bhi hamari jo baatcheet ke dauraan unhone is baat ko dohraaya. Aur vah yeh bhi chahte hain ki terrorism par India pehal karke poore world mein ek leadership position le. Toh terrorism ke issues pe hum dono countries mein kaafi aapas mein ek understanding hai. Aur vah humein in in muddon par kaafi support karte hain.
[Approximate Translation: Answer in Hindi] On terrorism, as you said, they actually gave us considerable support when the Pahalgam incident took place. At that time, a very good statement came from them, saying that they stand with India. Even today, during our discussions, they reiterated this. And, they also want India to take the lead on terrorism, and assume a leadership position globally. So, on issues of terrorism, there is a strong mutual understanding between our two countries, and they extend significant support to us on these matters.
Thank you. Krishi, I presume I covered. So, yeah, thank you.
Sachin Budholiya, Hindustan Samachar: Main Sachin Budholiya hoon Hindustan Samachar se. Mera sawal yeh hai ki kya yahan se Fiji ke liye direct connectivity flight hamari seedhi chalti hai ? Kyunki tourism ko jaise aapne bataya ki Bharat ka ek tourism ka market vo log explore karna chahte hain. To direct connectivity ko lekar ke kya aap log kar rahe hain?
[Approximate Translation: Question in Hindi] I am Sachin Budholiya from Hindustan Samachar. My question is, do we have direct connectivity flights from here to Fiji? Since, as you mentioned, they want to explore India's tourism market, what steps are being taken regarding direct connectivity?
Keshav Padmanabhan, ThePrint: Thank you so much, sir, for permitting me a second question. Keshav Padmanabhan from ThePrint again. This is with regards to the $75 million line of credit that was agreed to in 2014 when the Prime Minister visited. Can you give us a sense of whether this line of credit has elapsed, and if there are negotiations for further development assistance through such financial instruments arising from this visit? Thank you.
Dr. Neena Malhotra, Secretary (South): Thank you. On the direct connectivity, I do realize that it's a major, major challenge. In fact, when I recently visited Fiji, many of these business people had mentioned challenges of shipping links and connectivity between our two countries.
But you see, India doesn't have a national carrier as of now, and Fiji Airways has limited operations. In fact, they fly to Singapore. They also fly to Hong Kong, and they fly, I think, a little bit between Australia and New Zealand, and I think one or two of the other islands. So as of now, they have, I think, not enough planes, though it's a very good Airlines. I am told that it is listed as a very safe and popular Airline. But we have, as of now, no direct air connectivity. Because we do not have a national carrier, it's essentially within the hands of the private airlines. In fact, it is for them. But we are ready to facilitate if any of our airlines want to kind of have a code-sharing arrangement or to fly directly, we will be very happy to facilitate, and provide the necessary civil aviation support.
The other thing I would like to add is that its connectivity is more than physical ... when it comes to Fiji. There's a lot of connections in the historical, and cultural, and linguistic field. As you know, nearly one third of the population is of Indian origin there, and Hindi is the official language in Fiji. In fact, this government has also made it a vernacular language also for the parliament. So it is spoken in the parliament. We also have a cultural center there which teaches Indian languages as well as the Indian music and dance, etc.
We have enormous religious connections. In fact, they had come for the Ayodhya ceremony which took place for the Ramlalla Mandir. We have lot of connections between the two communities. In fact, they celebrate Girmit Day ... They celebrate Yoga Day, etc. So there are, more than I think physical connections ... other connections. And now also is an era of digital connectivity. So, I would look at connectivity in so many other ways as well.
I would like to also say about these loans actually. Our development partnership is our key pillar, you know, when it comes to Fiji. And we've been assisting them with all three forms. We are doing grant-in-aid projects. We are providing them lines of credit, concessional loans. And we also provide training and capacity building.
So we had given them two LOCs for the sugar industries in the past. One for 50.4 million dollars, and the other for 5.8 million dollars. And we have done numerous other projects in various areas. But this 70 million which was announced, I think we are awaiting ... These are the lines which were extended to the Fiji Sugar Cooperation. And the work under these LOCs have been completed. And, as of now, there is no more project under the LOC, as far as we understand. So that is about the LOC.
But a lot is happening, under the development cooperation program of ours through grant-in-aid projects, which again, we do it bilaterally. We also do it under the FIPIC banner. And we also have what we call India-UNDP Cooperation Fund. So we do projects under that as well. Thank you.
Unidentified Speaker: On the defense equipment, what kind of equipment are we looking at? Is it going to be patrol boats? Is it going to be aircraft like we provided to the Maldives, the Dorniers? So can you be a little more specific on what kind of equipment we will be providing to Fiji? Thank you.
Dr. Neena Malhotra, Secretary (South): Thank you. As I said, you know, when it comes to defense and security, we are focusing on basically training and capacity building. And, we have also had port calls, visits, by our ships.
And, we have also focused on HADR, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. We are essentially focusing on enhancing the maritime capabilities of Fiji so that they could deal with the challenges of security in their region, which is also disaster management, because their countries are vulnerable to natural disasters, cyclones, etc. We are also kind of building upon ... They also have this issue of IUU, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. So for that as well, we are supporting them.
We had the first meeting of JWG only recently. So I think the two sides are working on how we can collaborate with them. We are setting up a cyber security cell. We have announced today, we will be supplying sea ambulances to the Fiji military forces. So, there are a lot of areas which we are exploring as of now.
And I think the basic is we want to kind of collaborate in the regional security architecture, so that our shared vision of having a free, open, inclusive, and peaceful and sustainable Indo-Pacific is there for everybody. Thank you.
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Fiji ki Aadhikarik bhashao me Hindi bhi shamil hai. Toh chaliye is bar is press varta ko hindi me khatam karte hain. Aap sabhi ke bhagidari ke liye bahut bahut Dhanyavad. Aage is daure ke bare mein hamse jude rahiye, aur kya hota hai iske bare mein janne ke liye. Bahut bahut Dhanyavad.
[Approximate Translation: Answer in Hindi] Hindi is also included among the official languages of Fiji. So, let us conclude this press briefing in Hindi this time. Thank you very much to all of you for your participation. Please stay connected with us to know more about this visit and what follows. Thank you very much.
Dr. Neena Malhotra, Secretary (South): Dhanyavad.
New DelhiAugust 25, 2025
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