We hope to co-host the third FIPIC summit – Doctor Jaishankar

The visiting Indian Minister for Minister of External Affairs, Doctor Subrahmanyam Jaishankar says India hopes to co-host the third summit of the Forum of India Pacific Islands Cooperation in the coming months.

Doctor Jaishankar says India sees Fiji as a very important partner in the Indo-Pacific.

He says they will value Fiji’s presence and leadership at the summit.

Doctor Jaishankar is in Fiji for the celebration of the 12th World Hindi Conference.

The first summit was hosted in Suva and the second in Jaipur, India.

The FIPIC was launched during Prime Minister, Narendra Modi's visit to Fiji in November 2014.

FIPIC includes 14 of the island countries – Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

India's focus has largely been on the Indian Ocean where it has sought to play a major role and protect its strategic and commercial interests.