Minister of State for External Affairs and Textiles, Shri Pabitra Margherita (MoS), was undertake a visit to the Kingdom of Tonga on 28-29 August 2024 to attend the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders’ Meeting with Dialogue Partners, which is being held as a part of the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum and related meetings.
The Pacific Island Forum (PIF) is the apex intergovernmental organization in the Pacific Region consisting of 18 members, namely, Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Since 2002, India has been a Dialogue Partner of the Forum.
Following the historic 3rd Summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in May 2023 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, the visit of MoS would provide an opportunity to our leadership to engage with key decision-makers from all 14 FIPIC Countries and also meet with other Dialogue Partners on the sidelines of the PIF Meeting.
MoS will also have high level bilateral engagements with the Tongan leadership. India-Tonga partnership draws its strength from our shared values of mutual respect, trust and cooperation. The visit will reaffirm the strong commitment of both countries to further strengthen the bilateral partnership for progress and prosperity.
The participation of MoS at the 53rd PIF Leaders’ Meeting in Tonga will be the first ever participation at Ministerial level from India in the PIF Meetings. The visit is expected to further strengthen and deepen India’s traditionally close partnership with the PIF and the Pacific Island Countries, including the Kingdom of Tonga.