2 weeks ago
India Asks Pacific Islands to Set Aid Priorities
India wants Pacific island countries to explain what kind of help they need most.
India says it can then create special training and support programmes for them.
People from the islands could travel to India to learn about important subjects.
India also asked the countries to suggest small projects that could quickly help local communities.
These projects would use Indian funding and local resources.
Examples of existing help include solar power, homes, hospitals, and sea ambulances.
India says its assistance is based on the needs chosen by the countries receiving it.
It also says its programmes do not require those countries to take loans.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar asked Pacific island countries to identify areas where India can provide support.
India offered to customize training programmes around priorities proposed by the Pacific island nations.
Jaishankar invited the 14 FIPIC countries to submit proposals for quickly implemented, India-funded local projects.
India said its aid is guided by recipients’ priorities and does not burden them with loans.
Existing assistance includes solar power, housing, women engineers’ training, space technology, sea ambulances, and hospitals.
- Who
- External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and representatives of the 14 Pacific island countries participating in the Forum for India–Pacific Islands Cooperation.
- What
- India asked the Pacific island nations to propose priority areas for customized assistance and Quick Impact Projects.
- Where
- At a meeting of the Forum for India–Pacific Islands Cooperation at the United Nations.
- When
- Wednesday, local time.
- Why
- To tailor India’s development assistance and training to priorities identified by the Pacific island countries.
Key facts
- Forum
- Forum for India–Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC)
- Participating countries
- 14 Pacific island countries
- India’s funding commitment
- $150 million to the United Nations Development Partnership Fund
- Project model
- Quick Impact Projects funded by India and implemented using local resources
- Aid principle
- Programmes are based on recipient priorities and do not burden recipients with loans
- Funding channels
- The India-UN Development Partnership Fund and the IBSA Fund
- Assistance areas
- Solar power, housing, women engineers’ training, space technology, sea ambulances, and hospitals
Quotes
S. Jaishankar
India’s External Affairs Minister
“If we can get from you your priority, a particular area where you feel that it would be useful to have people ... their professionalism or their capacity strengthened,”
thehansindia.com
“We could actually customise a module in a particular domain only for the Pacific Islands,”
thehansindia.com
Sources
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