FIPIC Summit

Facts for Prelims

FIPIC Summit

News: The third forum for India-Pacific islands co-operation (FIPIC Summit), which was held today at Port Moresby was jointly hosted with Papua New Guinea. PM Modi co-chaired the summit.

Background:
 All Head of state/head of government of the above countries met in Suva, Fiji in November 2014 for the first time where the annual summit was conceptualised.

About:
 Forum for India-Pacific Islands cooperation (FIPIC) is a multinational grouping for cooperation between India and 14 Pacific Islands nations.
 It comprises 14 island nations which are Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
 The initiative marks a serious effort to expand India's engagement in the Pacific region.
 A major part of India's engagement with these countries is through development assistance under SouthSouth Cooperation, mainly in capacity building (training, scholarships, grant-in-aid and loan assistance) and community development projects.