Since his assumption to power in 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been slowly stretching the arm of the country’s foreign policy into Pacific waters in furtherance of the ‘Act East’ policy. While India’s relationship with the Pacific island states (read, not Australia and New Zealand) is quite unestablished, Modi is attempting to set the foundations for prosperous future cooperation. In the form of a guidebook for India on Pacific diplomacy, this paper outlines key opportunities for Modi to further engage Pacific island nations, and highlights the potential barriers to effective India-Pacific island cooperation. This paper argues that India should be careful to retain its position as a neutral power in the region; by tailoring its diplomacy toward the ‘Pacific Partners’ and ‘Pacific Islands’, India opens itself up as a prospective economic and security partner to all invested actors. Additionally, India should target the Polynesian grouping and the Small Island States (SIS) for high-potential partnerships.
Introduction to the Pacific
A smattering of islands connecting Asia with the Americas, the Pacific region accommodates a mosaic of states and non-states with varying degrees of self-governance: sovereign nations, recognised colonial territories, non-recognised colonial territories (West Papua, Bougainville), states of ‘compact association’, and states of ‘free association’. The 14 independent nations are approximately sub-divided into three ethnographic and political regions: Micronesia houses the nations of the Federates States of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru and Palau; Melanesia includes Fiji, Papua New Guinea (PNG), the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu; and Polynesia comprises the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu. The Pacific Ocean is also home to the non-self-governing inhabited territories of Tokelau (New Zealand), New Caledonia (France), French Polynesia (France), Wallis and Futuna (France), American Samoa and Guam (USA), Pitcairn (Britain), Rapanui (Chile), as well as a collection of non-inhabited bases in the Northern Pacific administered predominantly by the US.
The Pacific islands region was one of the last in the world to undergo decolonisation, with Samoa first to declare independence in 1962, followed by a wave of other Pacific island societies ending centuries-long colonial rule: Fiji (1970), Papua New Guinea (1975), the Solomon Islands (1978), Tuvalu (1978), and Vanuatu (1980). Independent regional political representation of the Pacific islands did not occur until their split in 1971 from the colonial-led South Pacific Commission (SPC). The new ‘South Pacific Forum’ (in 1999 renamed the Pacific Islands Forum) was a commitment to independence and self-determination in the Pacific, as well as regional integration and collaboration, and intentionally excluded the SPC colonial powers: France, the Netherlands, Britain, and the US. [i] The remaining two powers in the SPC, Australia and New Zealand, were invited to join the South Pacific Forum after debate; Fiji led support for the two regional neighbours as strategic partners for the newly sovereign Pacific island states. [ii]
Pacific Island States: Geographic and Ethnographic Groupings
Today, the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) is still the premier political organisation of the Pacific island nations, and has become more confident in its engagements with its own region, and the world. The PIF currently has 18 members: the 14 independent Pacific island states; Australia and New Zealand; and, most recently, France’s French Polynesia and New Caledonia which attained full membership last year at the 47th annual Pacific Islands Forum. [iv] Significantly, the Pacific is also experiencing strong sub-regional political organisation and lobbying, with the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), the Pacific Islands Developing Forum (PIDF) and the Polynesian Leader’s Group (PLG) as principal examples. [v] The Pacific engage with the international community (United Nations) through key lobbying groups such as the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS), the G77 (+China), and the Association of Small Island States (AOSIS). [vi]
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