PM Modi holds talks with Papua New Guinea counterpart, vows to support priorities and wishes of Pacific Island nations

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held talks with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape took stock of their bilateral relations and discussed ways to further augment cooperation in areas like commerce, technology, healthcare and climate change.

Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit the country, also reiterated India’s support and respect for the priorities and wishes of the Pacific Island nations.

He also met the island nation’s Governor-General Bob Dadae separately and discussed ways to further strengthen the bilateral partnership across multiple sectors.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, in a tweet, said, “PM Narendra Modi arrives at the iconic APEC House located on the shores of Ela Beach in Port Moresby. Warmly welcomed by PM James Marape.” During his talks with Marape, Modi thanked his counterpart for the warm welcome and for co-hosting the 3rd Summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

FIPIC was launched during Modi’s visit to Fiji in 2014. The summit took place at a time when China is making efforts to enhance its military and diplomatic influence in the region.

Both leaders took stock of their bilateral relations and discussed ways and means to further strengthen their partnership across various sectors, including trade & investment, health, capacity building & skill development and Information Technology, it said.

    Reached Papua New Guinea. I am thankful to PM James Marape for coming to the airport and welcoming me. This is a very special gesture which I will always remember. I look forward to boosting India’s ties with this great nation during my visit. pic.twitter.com/9pBzWQ6ANT

    — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 21, 2023

They also discussed issues related to climate action and promoting people-to-people ties. Prime Minister reiterated India’s support and respect for the priorities and wishes of the Pacific Island nations, the statement said.

“Prime Minister James Marape and I had very productive talks, covering the full range of bilateral relations between India and Papua New Guinea. We discussed ways to augment cooperation in commerce, technology, healthcare and in addressing climate change,” Prime Minister Modi tweeted and posted a photo of him shaking hands with Marape.

The two leaders launched a translation of the Tamil classic ‘Thirukkural’ to the Tok Pisin language of Papua New Guinea. The translated book is co-authored by linguist Subha Sasindran and Sasindran Muthuvel, Governor of West New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea. The book has a foreword by Prime Minister Marape.

Prime Minister Modi congratulated the authors and complimented them on their contribution towards preserving the tenets of Indian thought and culture in Papua New Guinea.

Earlier in the day, Modi met Papua New Guinea’s Governor-General Bob Dadae at the Government House.
The Governor-General warmly welcomed the Prime Minister on his first visit to the country.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi starts off the day in Papua New Guinea with a warm conversation with Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae at the historic Government House. Underlined the significance of India-Papua New Guinea relations ties and development partnership between the two countries,” MEA spokesperson Bagchi said on Twitter.

Both leaders had a good exchange of views including on the significance of the bilateral ties and development partnership between the two countries, which they agreed to further strengthen, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

Prime Minister Modi posted photos of his meeting with Governor-General Dadae on his official Twitter handle.

“Had a wonderful meeting with Governor-General of Papua New Guinea, Sir Bob Dadae. We talked about ways to deepen bilateral relations between our nations across different sectors,” Modi said.

The Indian prime minister arrived here on Sunday evening from Japan where he attended the summit of the G7 advanced economies and held bilateral meetings with several world leaders.

His visit to Papua New Guinea on the second leg of his three-nation tour is the first ever by any Indian prime minister. He was received at the airport by Prime Minister James Marape who touched his feet as a mark of respect.

Normally Papua New Guinea doesn’t give a ceremonial welcome to any leader coming after sunset. But a special exception was made for Prime Minister Modi and a ceremonial welcome was accorded to him.
The FIPIC Summit saw participation from leaders of 14 countries.

Pacific Island nations include Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Republic of Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

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Manipur clashes derailed Kuki-Zomi peace talks

 

The clashes have now thrown a spanner in the talks with the groups after having agreed to a political settlement within the state of Manipur now digging their heels in and demanding a separate administration.

The demand officially resurfaced with 10 Kuki-Zomi MLAs in Manipur submitting a memorandum to Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Now, the SOO groups are poised to begin talks with the Centre once again, but with a changed position.

Union government sources said it was understandable that Kukis would harden their stance following the recent violence  as they now feel insecure under a Meitei-dominated government.

Sources in Manipur also told The Indian Express that the disproportionate casualties suffered by the Kukis [in comparison to Meiteis] in the violence has exacerbated this insecurity.

“Still we are hopeful of reaching a deal with the Kukis. They have been more accommodating of Centre’s vision for Manipur compared to Nagas. Thankfully, the words used by agitating Kuki leaders are still ‘separate administration’ and not ‘separate state’. We are sure once peace is established in Manipur and Kukis begin to feel more secure, they will come around to accepting the solution. It may take some time now, but it will happen,” a government source said.

The peace talks had settled upon the module of providing ‘territorial councils’ to the tribes of Manipur. The Kuki groups had asked that the 10 hill districts, dominated by Kuki-Zomi and Naga tribes — be divided into two territorial councils — one for the Nagas and the other for the Kuki-Zomi groups. The Biren Singh-led government had proposed that there be 10 territorial councils — one for every district. The Centre had proposed a division of 2-2-1, a proposition that was backed by the Zomi insurgent groups.

“But that is no longer what we are seeking. It is not possible for us to live with the Meiteis any longer, so we want a separate administration,’’ said a KNO leader speaking with The Indian Express.

Pointing out that this is the “first time in two millennia that such an incident has taken place between the Kukis and the Meiteis’’, the leader added, “We hope that the Centre will address the deep fault lines that have existed in Manipur, to the detriment of tribals. A line has to be drawn – and that line is the hill-valley divide, physically and politically. The Kukis who have been driven out of the valley will never go back.  When Rajnath Singh was home minister, the Centre had convinced us to drop the demand of a separate state. We obliged, to ensure peace in the region, with the condition that certain safeguards were put into place such as the 6th Schedule, protection of our land etc. But before the settlement has taken place, the Meiteis have made it very clear to us that they don’t want us. We are now saying, never again.’’

The SOO groups have also alleged that the Manipur government has been using state machinery to attack the tribes.

“He (Biren) is exercising his power and carrying out what he wants to do because he is emboldened by his numbers in the second term… He is only targeting the Kuki-Zomis while the Nagas were also doing it,’’ he alleges.

The land that the Kukis occupy, including Churachandpur and Kangkokpi, is being eyed by the Meitei population, contends the KNO. “We are the obvious target. At the time the clashes began, we heard that they were coming to obliterate Churachandpur town,” he says. “It’s a very good thing in one way. If this had not happened and we had a settlement, based on the Memorandum of settlement, we would be a part of Manipur. Now we have been set free…to pursue our own political arrangement.”

The groups claim that the Chief Minister’s office had passed an order for the dismantling of the Anglo-Kuki war memorial which was later rescinded. Incidentally, the clashes which began on May 3, started with the alleged setting on fire of the memorial.

Another flashpoint is that of the sacred Koubru mountain, that the Meiteis believe the community originated from. Meiteis have said that they are barred from visiting Koubru by the SOO groups, the groups have contested this saying that there is no such prohibition. They have alleged that the Biren government has tried to erect a structure on the mountain for the pilgrimage, which the groups opposed.

“We do not agree with the Meitei demand for ST status. We understand, however, their concerns about not being able to buy land in the hills, while tribals can buy land in the valley which is less than 10% of the total land in Manipur. The government should bring in a policy to disallow tribals from buying land in the Imphal valley – we have no problem with that,” he said.

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