The Pacific Island States

The Pacific Island states (PIS) comprise

of 14 independent countries: ​Cook Is-
lands; Fiji; Kiribati; Marshall Islands;
Federated States of Micronesia;
Nauru; Niue; Samoa; Solomon
Islands; Palau; Papua New Guinea
(PNG); Tonga; Tuvalu; and Vanuatu.
The Pacific Island countries do not have
a homogenous identity and are
subdivided into three ethnic sub-regions
in Melanesia, Micro- nesia, and
Polynesia.
The ​South Pacific Commission
established in 1947 was the first
regional grouping for cooperation
administered by USA, New Zealand,
UK, France, Australia and the
Netherlands with little actual control
given to the PIS for self- governance.
The geo-strategic value of retaining
administrative control over the PIS was
liberally used by the Western powers as
grounds for unrestricted nuclear-testing
due to its remote geography
After strong protests against
environmental damage and the
consequent conclusion of the Rarotonga
treaty in 1986, some Western powers
ceased their nuclear testing, although
issues remained with France’s
continued testing
The Western powers have generally
considered the Pacific region as their
‘backyard,’ and an extension of their
strategic influence that continues to hold
true even in present times.
Consequently, the increasing
engagements of Asian powers, such as
Japan and now China, have been
viewed with suspicion and caution
While the influence of the other Western
powers has decreased, Australia and
New Zealand have retained their
relevance as regional players that also
provide aid, markets for exports,
security forces, as well as order and
stability in the region.

The South Pacific Forum was

established in 1971 and renamed the
Pacific Island Forum (PIF) in 1999.

The PIF comprises of 18 members,

including Australia and New Zealand,
with full membership be in allotted to
French Polynesia and New Caledonia in
September 2016. ​India was made a
dialogue partner of the PIF in 2002
After 33 long years, in the month of
November 2014, Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi visited Fiji, a South
Pacific archipelago of about 300 islands.
It has been estimated that about 37 %
of its 900,000 population is of Indian
origin.

During this visit, PM Modi mooted the

concept of ‘​Forum for India-Pacific
Islands Cooperation’ (FIPIC) in order
to reach out to other Pacific Island
Countries (PICs). This visit can be
considered as a milestone in India’s
relations with PICs due to the
inauguration of the first summit of FIPIC
in Fiji in 2014.
FIPIC has India and 14 South Pacific
Islands like Fiji, Cook Islands, Kiribati,
Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru,
Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea,
Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga,
Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
The second summit of FIPIC was held in
Jaipur on August 21, 2015.
Agenda of the summit touched upon
several issues like climate change, blue
economy, space collaboration and trade
to mention a few of them.

Gravity of the world economy is shifting

to the Indo-Pacific region and PICs sit at
the pivot of the Pacific. Though land
area and population of the South Pacific
region is minuscule, it has abundant
resources in store.
For example, land area of Kiribati is
merely 810 sq. km, but its Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ) is more than 3.5
million sq. km (greater than India’s land
area)

For India, PICs can offer sea lanes of

communication and ports, access to
fisheries, military

bases and decisive votes in

international for UN Security Council
reforms.

Of the 14 PICs, 12 are UN members;

and 10 states have announced their
direct support for India's bid for
permanent seat in the UNSC and one
state supports G4 resolution (thus
indirectly supporting India).
Of the 14 PICs, Fiji is the most
important Island. In 2006, the Western
world boycotted Fiji due to a military
coup.

China took advantage of this and

cultivated relations with Fiji and other
states in the region. China wooed this
region with aid diplomacy, investing in
the region to get access for building
military bases - the most important
aspect of which is signals intelligence

India also took note of this. Earlier, due

to its disputes with Pakistan and China,
India focused much on continental
aspect and ignored the maritime
domain. However, India is now
focusing on maritime domain too.
Besides that, Modi reinvigorated earlier
‘Look East’ policy into actionable ‘Act
East’ policy.

The fast-changing maritime domain in

Asia — where an increase in
geo–political competition is binding the
Pacific Islands and Indian Ocean into a
single theatre —

Now, India has started to use the term

‘Indo-Pacific, to reflect that its area of
interest lies in both the Indian and
Pacific Oceans.
INDIA KOREA

"SamgukYusa" or "The Heritage History

of the Three Kingdoms" written in the
13th century a Princess from Ayodhya
(Suriratna) came to Korea, married King
Kim-Suro, and became Queen Hur
Hwang-ok in the year 48 AD [wife of
former President Lee Myung-bak (Mrs.
Kim Yoon-ok)
India played an important and positive
role in Korean affairs after Korea's
independence in 1945.
Mr K P S Menon of India was the
Chairman of the 9-member UN
Commission set up in 1947 to hold
elections in Korea.
During the Korean War (1950- 53), both
the warring sides accepted a resolution
sponsored by India, and the ceasefire
was declared on 27 July 1953.
Lt. General K.S. Thimayya of India,
served as the chairman of the Neutral
Nations Repatriation Commission
[NNRC], after the armistice and
contributed to resolving the
humanitarian issues arising out of the
War.
India and South Korea launched an
initiative ‘​Korea Plus​’, as proposed by
Prime Minister Modi in June 2016 in
India to promote and facilitate Korean
Investments in India. To give it much
wider outreach and publicity, Embassy
of India organized a ‘Korea Plus’ event
to introduce the initiative to Korean
businessmen and investors in South
Korea in November 2016.
Major Korean conglomerates such as
Samsung, Hyundai Motors and LG have
made significant investments into India,
estimated at over $4.43 billion (as of
March 2017).
Recently, Kia motors, a sister company
of Hyundai Group, announced an
investment of USD 1.1 billion to set up a
manufacturing unit in Andhra Pradesh
and Samsung Electronics announced a
USD 760 million investment to expand
production facilities in India.
In addition, there are 603 large and
small Korean firms, which have offices
in India.
From the Indian side, investments in
South Korea is nearing USD 3 billion.

Novelis, a Hindalco subsidiary,

acquired a Korean aluminium company
by investing about $600 million.
Mahindra & Mahindra ​acquired a
majority stake in ​SsangYong Motors​,
the country's 4th largest auto
manufacturer.
INDIA VIETNAM RELATIONS

The two states promulgated a Joint

Declaration on Comprehensive
Cooperation in 2003 in which they
envisaged creating an "​Arc of
Advantage and Prosperity​" in
Southeast Asia

In 2007 both countries agreed on the

establishment of the Strategic
Partnership

Vietnam has been emerging as a

pivotal state in India’s ​Act East
policy, which can be reflected in
multiple dimension of cooperation:

Defence cooperation

The two countries developed strong

defence ties extensively in fields like:

Sale of military equipment:

Negotiations for four large patrol
vessels and ​BrahMos short-range
cruise missile are going on.
Training Vietnam's armed forces in
military equipment:

Kilo-class submarines & Sukhoi

aircraft.

India also announced a new line of

credit US$500 million for
procurement of defence equipment.
Joint naval exercises Vietnam is also
a part of ​MILAN​, India’s multinational
naval exercise.

Vietnam and India use the same

Russian and erstwhile Soviet
platforms, there is a significant
convergence between the two in the
defence sector

Vietnam has even asked India to

develop this naval facility. this is
significant in light of the that not
even the US, a close ally of Vietnam
in the region, was given this
privilege.

Geostrategic convergence of two

nations.

Apprehension of an aggressive China

China's virtually claiming the whole

South China Sea as its territory and
its assertiveness in the Indian Ocean.
China complained about Indian
cooperation for the exploration for oil
in Vietnamese waters, especially in
light of the disputed political status
of the ​Spratly Islands, which India
currently recognizes as part of
Vietnam.
A peaceful and prosperous
Indo-Pacific region on the basis of
respect for national sovereignty and
international law Freedom of
navigation: 1982 UN Convention on
the Law of the Sea Rule-based
international order

Regional cooperation
India and Vietnam closely cooperate
in various regional forums such as
ASEAN, East Asia Summit, Mekong
Ganga Cooperation, besides UN and
WTO.
Vietnam has supported India's bid to
become a permanent member of the
U.N. Security Council and join the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC)

Economic and Commercial Relations

India is now among the top ten
trading partners of Vietnam

Science and Technology cooperation

India and Vietnam have signed the
Framework Agreement on
cooperation in: Exploration and Uses
of Outer Space for Peaceful
Purposes, IT Cooperation, Cyber
Security Uses of Atomic Energy for
Peaceful Purposes. A proposal to set
up a Centre for Satellite Tracking and
Data Reception and an Imaging
facility in Vietnam under
ASEAN-India Cooperation
mechanism is under consideration.