Prime Minister of India receives a ceremonial welcome in Papua New Guinea

Port Moresby – Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a warm and ceremonial welcome in Papua New Guinea. The meeting between India and 14 island countries around the Pacific Ocean will be held in ‘Papua New Guinea’, an island country in that. China is preparing to establish dominance in the Pacific Ocean region by increasing its influence on these island countries, which could be detrimental to India’s broader interests in the region. Therefore, the ‘Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation-FIPIC’ meeting to be held in Papua New Guinea becomes very important for India.

Until now, giving a warm ceremonial welcome to anyone after sunset wasn’t part of the tradition in ‘Papua New Guinea’. However, an exception was made this time; the Prime Minister of India was warmly welcomed in ‘Papua New Guinea’. Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, James Marape, was present at the airport on this occasion. A 19-gun salute was also fired to welcome Prime Minister Modi. The warm welcome given to the Indian Prime Minister in Papua New Guinea, an island country in the Pacific Ocean, is strategically important.

Long ago, China had started making movements to influence ‘Papua New Guinea’. In the initial stages, China’s efforts also met with success. But all these countries have realised that Chinese investment and committing to economic cooperation with China has caused more damage than helped reap benefits. Papua New Guinea is no exception. Especially after realising China’s plan to use the island countries in the Pacific Ocean as a base against countries like the US and Australia, these island countries have started taking steps against it.

At such a time, India also prepared to establish cooperation with 14 island countries in this region, including Papua New Guinea. According to this, the ‘Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation-FIPIC’ was established during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Fiji in 2014. This has conveyed the motive to everyone that India does not think about its interests in the Indian Ocean region only.

Furthermore, the meeting will be held in Papua New Guinea on Monday. Strategically, India’s cooperation with FIPIC is very important. The United States, Japan and Australia have welcomed India’s investment in this sector. Long ago, these three countries had appealed to India to take a broad stance to curb China’s influence here and stop its hegemonic activities. Therefore, except for China, other countries in this region welcome India’s cooperation with the island countries here. But there are indications that China is extremely upset by this.

US President Joe Biden was also scheduled to visit Papua New Guinea. China had also given warnings against his visit. But for some reason, there are reports that the visit of President Biden has been cancelled. This has increased the importance of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Papua New Guinea. Meanwhile, news has surfaced that Prime Minister Modi will meet New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and hold bilateral talks.

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