Global leader

Pitching for stronger ties with India, Fiji’s Deputy PM Biman Chand Prasad stated that his country would like to “strengthen the relationship, we want a meaningful, deeper engagement.” This is the first high-level visit from Fiji following the formation of the new Government under Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka in December 2022. He said, “India is a global power. India provides leadership to the global south and within the Indo-Pacific strategy, India has an important role, and Fiji on the other hand is the hub of the Pacific.”During the India visit, he held talks with EAM Jaishankar, Minister of State, Ministry of External Affairs, Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, and attended the first India Energy Week (IEW) 2023. The visit of Deputy Prime Minister Prasad comes a few days before the 12th World Hindi Conference which will be jointly hosted by India and Fiji in Nadi, Fiji, from 15-17 February 2023.The visiting Deputy PM also lauded his country’s ties with Australia highlighting how “Australia does provide that confidence to many of those pacific island countries in terms of how we can deal with the challenges”.