India and Papua New Guinea reviewed the whole gamut of their bilateral ties on Monday during talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterpart James Marape in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea.  The two leaders also discussed ways to further augment cooperation in areas like commerce, technology, healthcare and climate change.

The Prime Minister also met leaders of other Pacific Island countries.  Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the country, also reiterated India’s support and respect for the priorities and wishes of the Pacific Island nations.

He also met the island nation’s Governor-General Bob Dadae separately and discussed ways to further strengthen the bilateral partnership across multiple sectors.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, in a tweet, said, “PM Narendra Modi arrives at the iconic APEC House located on the shores of Ela Beach in Port Moresby. Warmly welcomed by PM James Marape.”

During his talks with Marape, Modi thanked his counterpart for the warm welcome and for co-hosting the third Summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation(FIPIC), the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

The FIPIC was launched during Modi’s visit to Fiji in 2014. The summit took place at a time when China is making efforts to enhance its military and diplomatic influence in the region.

Both leaders took stock of their bilateral relations and discussed ways and means to further strengthen their partnership across various sectors, including trade and investment, health, capacity building and skill development and Information Technology, it said.

They also discussed issues related to climate action and promoting people-to-people ties. The Prime Minister reiterated India’s support and respect for the priorities and wishes of the Pacific Island nations, the statement said.

“Prime Minister James Marape and I had very productive talks, covering the full range of bilateral relations between India and Papua New Guinea. We discussed ways to augment cooperation in commerce, technology, healthcare and in addressing climate change,” Prime Minister Modi tweeted and posted a photo of him shaking hands with Marape.

The two leaders launched a translation of the Tamil classic ‘Thirukkural’ to the Tok Pisin language of Papua New Guinea. The translated book is co-authored by linguist Subha Sasindran and Sasindran Muthuvel, Governor of West New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea. The book has a foreword by Prime Minister Marape.