China and Pacific Island Countries

China and Pacific Island Countries

News: The Foreign Minister of China is currently on a visit to ten Pacific Island Countries (PICs) and has co-hosted with Fiji the Second China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers Meeting. However, China’s effort to push through a comprehensive framework deal failed to gain consensus among the PICs at the meeting.

About PICs:
• The Pacific Island Countries are a cluster of 14 states which are located largely in the tropical zone of the Pacific Ocean between Asia, Australia and the Americas.
• They include Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

What is the significance of the PICs?

Economic Potential
• Large EEZs have a great deal of economic potential since they can be used to exploit the wealth of fisheries, energy, minerals, and other marine resources present there. Hence, they prefer to be identified as Big Ocean States, rather than Small Island States.
• In fact, Kiribati and FSM, both PICs, have EEZs larger than that of India.

Largest Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs)
• The islands are divided on the basis of physical and human geography into three distinct parts — Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia.
• Despite their small land area, the islands are spread out over a wide swath of the Pacific Ocean.
• As a result, though they are some of the smallest and least populated states, they have some of the largest Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) in the world.

Nuclear Weapon Sites
• Some of the major nuclear weapon test sites of the U.S., the U.K. and France were located here due to the remoteness of these islands from the Soviet Union and major population centres of the world.

Vote Bank
• The 14 PICs, bound together by shared economic and security concerns, account for as many votes in the United Nations, and act as a potential vote bank for major powers to mobilise international opinion.

India-PICs Relation
• India’s interaction with the PICs is still largely driven by the presence of sizeable Indian Diaspora in the region. Nearly 40% of Fiji’s population is of Indian origin and about 3000 Indians living in Papua New Guinea at present.
• In terms of institutional engagements, India participates in the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) as one of the key dialogue partners of the Forum.
• The most important development in facilitating India’s interaction with the PICs in recent years has been the formation of an action-oriented Forum for India and Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC). FIPIC, a multinational grouping, was launched in 2014.

In what areas can co-operation be enhanced?

Disaster Management
• Most of the Pacific Island countries are prone to a variety of natural disasters, with widespread social, economic and environmental consequences.
• India can assist in building capacities of Disaster Risk Resilience. In September 2017, India launched Climate Early Warning Systems in seven PICs.

Climate Change and Sustainable Development
• The location of these island countries makes them vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate changes. Therefore, climate change and sustainable development are crucial areas of concern where a closer partnership can be developed for effective and concrete solutions.

Blue Economy
• The PICs can be attractive sources of natural resources like Liquified natural gas (LNG) and hydrocarbons to fuel India’s growing economy. India can engage with these countries particularly, to help build on the concept of our own ‘Blue Economy’

Way Forward
• While geographically small yet PICs have considerable economic, strategic and political significance in international affairs. India’s approach towards the PICs emphasizes on a transparent, need-based approach and inclusive partnership based on shared values and a shared future.

Note – From Prelims perspective, focus on the location of these Island nations, which island nation is independent, whether it is overseas territory of any other nation. Questions can be expected from this region.