Nuku'alofa, Aug 28 (IANS): Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs, Pabitra Margherita held meetings with the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Tonga, Tupouto?a ?Ulukalala, and Tuvalu's Minister for Foreign Affairs Paulson Panapa during his visit to Tonga on Wednesday.

The meetings took place on the sidelines of the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders’ Meeting in Nuku'alofa.

In his meeting with Crown Prince Tupouto?a ?Ulukalala, the MoS discussed ways to strengthen close and traditional bilateral ties and also congratulated Tonga for the successful PIF Leaders’ Meeting.

MoS Margherita, while sharing information about his meeting with Tuvalu's Foreign Affairs Minister, stated on X, "Had a productive meeting with Tuvalu's Minister for Foreign Affairs Paulson Panapa in Nuku'alofa on the sidelines of #PIFLM53.

“Discussions with our special partner in the Pacific focussed on strengthening our development partnership in priority areas."

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the participation of MoS Margherita at the 53rd PIF Leaders’ Meeting in Tonga marks the first-ever participation at the Ministerial level from India in these meetings.

This visit aims to further strengthen and deepen India’s longstanding partnership with the PIF and the Pacific Island Countries, including Tonga.

The PIF is the apex intergovernmental organisation in the Pacific Region consisting of 18 members, namely, Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

India has been a Dialogue Partner of the Forum since 2002.

Following the successful 3rd Summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) in May 2023 which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, the visit of the MoS provides India with an opportunity to engage with key decision-makers from all 14 FIPIC countries, the MEA had said on Sunday.

Minister Margherita's visit underscores India's attention to the Pacific Ocean Region, as it comes soon after President Droupadi Murmu's state visit to Fiji, New Zealand, and Timor-Leste earlier in August.