PM Modi To Receive Rare Honours During His Papua New Guinea Visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to receive many 'rare' honours during his visit to Papua New Guinea.

The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, James Marape, will personally welcome Prime Minister Modi at the airport upon his arrival today. While the country typically doesn't provide a ceremonial welcome for leaders arriving after sunset, a special exception has been made for PM Modi. He will be accorded a full ceremonial welcome, reported news agency ANI.

This will be the first-ever visit by any Indian Prime Minister to the Indo-Pacific country.

In Papua, PM Modi will host the third summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) jointly with Prime Minister James Marape.

The last Summit of the FIPIC took place in Jaipur, India, on 21 August 2015 with all 14 Pacific Island Countries (PICs).

During the two FIPIC Summits, India announced initiatives across a wide array of areas to assist the PICs in facing challenges and achieving aspirations for the well-being and development of its people.

A landmark initiative launched under the rubric of the Act East Policy for the PICs is the FIPIC.

PM Modi hosted the First FIPIC Summit in Suva on 19 November 2014 during his historic visit to Fiji, with the participation of all 14 PICs - Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Samoa, Vanuatu, Niue, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Cook Islands, Palau, Nauru and the Solomon Islands.

A major part of India's engagement with PICs is through development assistance under South-South Cooperation that is mainly in the form of capacity building (training, scholarships, grant-in-aid and loan assistance) and community development projects.