Watch: PM Modi arrives in Papua New Guinea, counterpart James Marape touches his feet

Port Moresby, May 21

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday arrived in Papua New Guinea where he will host the third summit of the Forum for India–Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) on May 22 jointly with his counterpart James Marape.

Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, in an exemplary gesture, touches the feet of Prime Minister Modi, as he welcomes him to PNG..

There can’t be a more compelling visual signaling India’s rise under PM Modi! pic.twitter.com/nGf60ZFBxh

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) May 21, 2023

In a rare gesture, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape touched the feet of PM Modi has he landed in the country.

Modi’s visit to Papua New Guinea on the second leg of his three-nation tour is the first ever by any Indian prime minister.

He arrived here from Japan where he attended the summit of the G7 advanced economies and held bilateral meetings with several world leaders.

Modi and Marape will host the third summit of the Forum for India–Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) on Monday.

“I am grateful that all 14 Pacific Island Countries (PIC) have accepted the invitation to attend this important summit (FIPIC),” Modi had said earlier.

FIPIC was launched during his visit to Fiji in 2014.

The FIPIC Summit will see participation from leaders of 14 countries. Normally all of them rarely converge together due to connectivity and other issues.

PIC includes Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Modi will also hold bilateral talks with Marape and meet Bob Dadae, the Governor General of Papua New Guinea.