Former Prime Minister and Leader of the People's Alliance Party, Sitiveni Rabuka has assured the new Indian High Commissioner that the People’s Alliance Party is an inclusive party and welcomes all Fijians into its fold as stated in the Party’s Constitution.
Rabuka made these comments when he met the Indian High Commissioner to Fiji, Palaniswamy Subramanyan Karthigeyan.
The People’s Alliance Party Leader also acknowledged the contributions of the Government of India over the years which included recent assistance during the COVID-19 challenges in Fiji, the support in sugar, renewable energy, provision of technical experts and training, educational, Micro and Small Business Enterprises, academic sponsorship, post-disasters relief work and cultural exchange programs.
Rabuka says he was very impressed with the enormous progress and development that India had made in the areas of communications, manufacturing, technology, space exploration, medical research and healthcare.
He says they also had the opportunity to reminisce on the time he spent at an Indian college in 1979 and his treatment at the Knee Replacement Centre in Vadodara in 2016.
Meanwhile, Karthigeyan says Fiji has a special place in the heart of India and its people as Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi shortly after being elected as the 14th Prime Minister of India in 2014 decided to include Fiji in his visit to the region because of this special relationship that we enjoy.
He says India looks forward to working with whoever has the mandate of the people to lead the nation of Fiji. The High Commissioner says India has enjoyed good rapport with the present government of Fiji as it did with all previous ones and there is great potential to improve this in the future.
