In a Pacific outreach, India has announced that it will develop community projects in the Marshall Islands. The initiative includes the construction of a community sports centre, airport terminal, two community centres and an MoU was signed on July 15, 2024. At the signing ceremony of the MoU, India’s foreign minister Subramaniam Jaishankar said, they will provide better infrastructure for the people of the Marshall Islands.
He pointed to sectors like healthcare, quality, and affordable medicines, wellness and lifestyles, centres of excellence education and capacity building, development and SME sector renewables and clean water facilities as areas of cooperation between India and Pacific. The announcement of the infrastructure support to the Marshall Islands is part of India’s broad strategy to enhance collaboration with the countries of Indo-Pacific.
The Indian foreign minister reiterated “India is always ready to do more with our Indo-Pacific partners pointing to commitment to the region Later this month, EAM S Jaishankar travels to Laos to attend the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meet and then QUAD Foreign Ministers Meet in Tokyo this year.
India’s growing engagement with the Indo-Pacific has been institutionalised with the forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation meetings which would see the Indian PM and leaders of the fourteen Pacific countries attending Last year, PM Modi had travelled to Papua New Guinea for the 3rd edition of the Summit. Since then, India has reached out to Papua New Guinea when it faced deadly landslides.
New Delhi announced immediate relief assistance worth one million USD to the country and interestingly part of Indian relief reached affected areas on Australia aircraft. Meanwhile, the Indian and American government collaborated to train Fiji doctors at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience (NIMHANS) in Bangalore and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) in Mohali, Punjab.
India’s increasing support to the Indo-Pacific comes at a time when China is trying to expand its influence in the region Beijing has been actively engaging with Pacific Nations through loans, grants and investments even as it tries to woo them for its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It has also pursued active military engagement, including security arrangements with countries like Solomon Islands.
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