India Fiji Joint Working Group meets in New Delhi

The India Fiji Joint Working Group held its second meeting in New Delhi on Monday, taking up military training, capacity building, service-to-service engagements, maritime security, cyber training and defence industry collaboration. According to the Ministry of Defence, the two sides also discussed closer institutional cooperation between the armed forces of India and Fiji.

Amitabh Prasad, Joint Secretary (International Cooperation) in the Ministry of Defence, co-chaired the meeting with Mason Smith, Permanent Secretary for Defence and Veterans Affairs of Fiji.

Smith also met Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh on the sidelines. Defence and maritime cooperation was the focus.

The ministry holds similar working-level meetings with other partners, among them the second India Ethiopia JDC meeting in Addis Ababa, co-chaired on the Indian side by a Joint Secretary as well.

Fijian delegation to visit Kochi

The Fijian delegation is scheduled to visit Kochi on Tuesday and Wednesday. It will inspect facilities at the Southern Naval Command, which hosted Operation Southern Readiness 26-2 in July, to formalise advanced naval training cooperation and professional aviation training modules.

Naval and aviation training modules

The modules aim to improve technical proficiency and operational synergy between the two maritime forces.

War memorial tribute and defence manufacturing briefing

Before the official talks began, Smith paid tribute to India's fallen soldiers at the National War Memorial in New Delhi, according to the ministry.

The delegation also visited DPSU Bhavan at the World Trade Centre, where it was briefed on India's indigenous defence manufacturing capabilities. The visit featured exhibition displays and Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) simulation facilities that replicate real-world battlefield conditions. The ministry said it highlighted advances under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative.

Indo-Pacific position and regular engagements

India reiterated the importance it accords to Fiji and the Pacific Island Countries in its vision of a free, open, inclusive and secure Indo-Pacific. Both sides expressed satisfaction at the growing bilateral defence engagements.

India and Fiji share close and friendly relations, built on historical, cultural and people-to-people ties. The India Fiji Joint Working Group meeting, the ministry said, gave both sides an opportunity to consolidate the existing defence partnership and identify new avenues for cooperation. They reaffirmed their commitment to expanding cooperation in mutually beneficial areas.

Both sides agreed to maintain regular engagements and work towards further deepening bilateral defence cooperation.