FIPIC INDIA RELATIONS
3RD SUMMIT
What is FIPIC?
Forum for India-Pacific Islands cooperation(FIPIC) is a group of 14 pacific island nations namely Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. .
When did the forum meet for the first time?
The forum was developed in 2014 & its first meeting was held in Suva capital of Fiji in November of the same year.
Why is FIPIC important to india?
Forum for India-Pacific Islands cooperation(FIPIC) is important to india, because india considers Indian ocean as its sphere of influence, and economically powerful china wants to increase its footprints in Indian ocean & periphery, which can be a security risk, particularly in the backdrop of significant chinese presence in Pakistan, maldieves & srilanka.
FIPIC is india’s multipronged approach at containing Chinese footprints in Indian ocean, following are previous policies & approaches to achieve this objective:
- Pushing for a pro-india government in maldives.
- Proactively aiding sri-lanka in its economic crisis.
- Setting up naval base in Andaman nicobar islands to oversee Chinese activities in strait of Malacca.
What opportunities FIPIC presents to india?
Because of their strategic location many of these islands have large exclusive economic zones (EEZs), which can be harnessed for living and non living resources.