The second Forum for India-Pacific Island Cooperation or FIPIC Summit has concluded in Jaipur. Heads of state and senior officials of fourteen island countries were participated in the summit. Formed in 2014, the first summit of FIPIC was organised in Suva, Fiji. Indian President Pranab Mukherjee welcomed all the visiting dignitaries at Rastrapati Bhavan on August 20.

Prime Minister Narender Modi has addressed the summit. He announced a major plan to open a new space research and satellite monitoring station on the Fiji Islands. A satellite monitoring station in Fiji will provide India with an independent satellite tracking capacity. At present, India relies on the United States and Australia to assist it with monitoring its satellites over the Pacific.

Points to Note

• The objective of summit is to strengthen trade and bilateral relations between India and the Pacific countries.
• The summit in Jaipur underlined the growing geostrategic importance of the 14 South Pacific islands that lie at the centre of a key maritime route.
• PM Modi had last year proposed visa on arrival for all and an e-network to connect the islands to provide tele-medicine and tele-education services.
• A hike in grant-in-aid from $125,000 to $200,000 annually to each island and a trade office of the Pacific Island nations in Delhi was also launched.
•  FIPIC includes the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.