Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh has reaffirmed India’s strong commitment to working closely with Fiji in its developmental journey.
While speaking during the Girmit Day celebration at Albert Park today, Dr. Singh says Girmit Day is a very special day in the relationship between India and Fiji.
He says he hopes the Girmit Day celebration will ensure that the rich history and heritage of girmityas and their descendants and most importantly the hard lessons learnt will be passed on to the future generations.
Dr. Singh has also acknowledged the Fijian government for declaring Girmit Day as a national holiday.
He says his visit is also a testimony to India’s special and enduring bond with Fiji, one that India is strongly committed to nurturing and taking to the next level.
The Minister says since the formation of the new government in Fiji, the number of high level meetings between Fiji and India has given new momentum and direction to the relationship.
He says the formation of the action oriented forum India Pacific Island corporation and the holding of the first PIFIC summit in Fiji during the historic visit of the Indian Prime Minister in 2014 underlines India’s strong desire to be close partners of the Pacific Island nations and readiness to work closely to advance their developmental agenda.
The Indian Minister adds it can also be seen from the back to back visit of the Deputy Prime Minister, Professor Biman Prasad to India and the visit of the External Affairs Minister to Fiji in February this year, to the upcoming meeting of Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi in the third PIFIC summit in Papua New Guinea next week.
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