Indian investment in Pacific region could be on the rise

Leaders of most of Pacific Island nations, including Fiji, Niue, Vanuatu, Palau, Tuvalu, Micronesia, Nauru, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, Samoa and Papua New Guinea, are in India for the second Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation Summit (FIPIC) in Jaipur.

Updated on: Aug 21, 2015, 01:08:54 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

In a bid to counter China’s increasing investment in the Pacific Islands, India plans to announce enhanced investment in the region at the second Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation Summit (FIPIC) that started on Wednesday. It is India’s attempt to reach out to nations most vulnerable to climate change, thereby showcasing itself as a global leader in fighting global warming.

President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari and PM Narendra Modi met the leaders from Pacific island nations in New Delhi ahead of the Forum for India-Pacific Island Countries (FIPIC) Summit in Jaipur. (AFP photo/Manish Swarup)

As per Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, most of the islands in the region will submerge if the present rate of carbon emissions continues, leading to a rise in temperature by four degrees by the end of the century. The island nations have been seeking global help to adapt to climate change while urging nations to reduce emissions.

In the 196-member United Nations Convention on Climate Change, the island nations are the key players. In the past, they have been accused of backing European Union proposals on climate change. India through summit diplomacy wants to bring some of them on its side.

The external affairs ministry officials said that India will announce renewable energy investment in each of the island nation. Also, technological help to minimise impact of climate change will be provided.

Leaders of most of these nations, including Fiji, Niue, Vanuatu, Palau, Tuvalu, Micronesia, Nauru, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, Samoa and Papua New Guinea, are in India.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

Get the latest India News, breaking headlines and real-time updates from across the country. Stay informed about politics, government policies, crime, weather and major national developments.