India strengthens its Pacific diplomacy with Fiji, sending seeds, promising tech ties, and deepening cooperation in defence, well being, and growth below the Act East Coverage imaginative and prescient.

The sixth India-Fiji International Workplace Consultations (FOC) held in Suva marked a renewed dedication to strengthening the multifaceted partnership between New Delhi and Suva, with recent momentum added to ongoing cooperation in agriculture, schooling, healthcare, local weather change and people-to-people ties. The high-level talks additionally reaffirmed shared strategic pursuits within the wider Indo-Pacific area.

The Indian delegation was led by Neena Malhotra, Secretary (South) on the Ministry of Exterior Affairs, whereas the Fijian group was headed by Raijeli Taga, Everlasting Secretary for International Affairs. This was the primary FOC since July 2022, additionally held in Suva.

In response to the official assertion from the Ministry of Exterior Affairs (MEA), the consultations supplied a platform to evaluate the complete scope of bilateral relations and determine avenues for additional collaboration. From commerce and funding to renewable vitality and digital expertise, the discussions had been wide-ranging and future-oriented.

A significant spotlight of the go to was India’s expression of gratitude to the Fijian authorities for its solidarity following the terrorist assault in Pahalgam in April 2025. Malhotra thanked Fiji for its agency stance towards world terrorism, an space of accelerating convergence between the 2 nations.

Along with safety cooperation, the 2 sides reaffirmed their shared aim of a diversified and sustainable partnership. Discussions included help for Fijian growth in sectors corresponding to agriculture and renewable vitality, with the Indian facet underlining its readiness to collaborate additional in well being, capability constructing, vocational coaching, and digital transformation.

On the sidelines of the FOC, Secretary Malhotra paid courtesy calls on a number of senior Fijian ministers, together with Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad and Minister for Defence Pio Tikoduadua. She additionally met with ministers from key portfolios like lands, employment, multi-ethnic affairs, and sugar business, underscoring India’s wide-ranging growth focus.

One of many tangible outcomes of the rising agricultural collaboration was the dispatch of 5 metric tonnes of black-eyed cowpea seeds from India to Fiji on July 27. The MEA described this as a humanitarian gesture below the ‘Act East Coverage’, meant to help Fijian agricultural manufacturing amid climatic and provide chain challenges.

“Standing in solidarity with our companions within the Indo-Pacific,” the MEA posted on social media platform X, including that the primary tranche had departed from Delhi. The initiative marks a brand new section in India’s agricultural diplomacy and showcases its dedication to meals safety partnerships within the Pacific.

The Indian Excessive Fee in Suva echoed these sentiments, emphasising the enduring people-to-people bonds, cultural ties, and mutual respect which have characterised India-Fiji relations. These hyperlinks had been notably bolstered when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Fiji in November 2014 and launched the Discussion board for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC), a strategic platform now central to India’s Pacific outreach.

Throughout her go to, Secretary Malhotra additionally held a roundtable dialogue with distinguished members of Fiji’s enterprise neighborhood. The dialogue centered on commerce alternatives, infrastructure growth, and methods to extend Indian investments in Fijian industries. Given the sturdy diaspora presence and shared cultural heritage, each side agreed on the untapped potential in tourism and companies.

India’s growth help to Fiji has spanned throughout many years, notably in human useful resource growth and capacity-building. Below the Indian Technical and Financial Cooperation (ITEC) programme, a whole bunch of Fijian nationals obtain coaching in India yearly, gaining expertise in areas starting from public administration to rural growth.

Increased schooling stays one other sturdy pillar of engagement. Many Fijian college students pursue levels in India via scholarships supplied by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Ministry of AYUSH, particularly in medication and conventional techniques of healthcare.

This partnership was additional elevated in Could 2025 when Union Minister of State for Exterior Affairs Pabitra Margherita attended the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the popularity of the Indian Pharmacopoeia, boosting cooperation in prescribed drugs and medical requirements.

Equally vital was the digital collaboration initiated in November 2024, when each nations signed an MoU to advertise digital transformation by leveraging India’s scalable digital public infrastructure. The settlement seeks to switch India’s profitable digital improvements to Fiji, probably reworking service supply and citizen empowerment.

The MEA famous that each nations agreed to keep up common high-level engagement and institutional dialogue. The following spherical of International Workplace Consultations will probably be held in New Delhi in 2026 at a mutually handy time.

India’s outreach to Fiji continues to be a necessary a part of its broader Indo-Pacific and Act East methods, providing a template for inclusive growth diplomacy and regional cooperation in a altering world panorama.