Modi's goodies to Pacific island nations

Modi announces visa on arrival for 14 Pacific Island countries

In a significant development, India announced visa-on-arrival to 14 Pacific island-nations to foster greater cooperation.
Making this announcement at the first Pacific Island Leaders Meeting in the Fijian capital of Suva, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India wishes to be a close partner of the Pacific Islands. The islands that would be benefited by this scheme are: Cook Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Nauru, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Niue, Palau, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.
He also announced setting up of a Special Adaptation Fund of $1 million to provide technical assistance and training for capacity building to the Pacific Island nations. He proposed an e-network to connect the island nations, given the distances between the islands and poor connectivity.
The other key incentives announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi are:
* Pan Pacific Islands Project for tele-medicine and tele-education.
* A hike in the grant-in-aid to Pacific island-countries from $125,000 to $200,000 each annually for community projects selected by the Pacific nations.
* Establishment of trade office of the Pacific island-nations in New Delhi to foster trade.
* Providing complementary space to the countries during exhibitions organised by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) to showcase their products.
He also proposed that a Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) be held on a regular basis and that the next meeting could be held in 2015 in a coastal location in India.