PM Narendra Modi conferred highest civilian Honours of Fiji and Papua New Guinea for his global leadership

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred with Fiji's Highest Civilian Honour "The Companion of the Order of Fiji" for his global leadership. Mr Modi received the medal from his Fiji counterpart Sitiveni Rabuka.

In a tweet, Mr Modi thanked Mr Rabuka for the award. He also expressed his gratitude to the people and government of Fiji. He said,  It is an honour for the people of India and a recognition of the strong ties between both countries.

Governor-General Bob Dadae of Papua New Guinea also bestowed upon Mr. Modi the nation's highest civilian award, the Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu. He received the award for championing the cause of unity of Pacific Island countries and spearheading the cause of global south.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, held a meeting with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape and discussed a broad range of bilateral relations.

In a tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Prime Minister James Marape and he had very productive talks, covering the full range of bilateral relations between India and Papua New Guinea (PNG). Mr Modi said he and his counterpart discussed ways to augment cooperation in commerce, technology, healthcare and in addressing climate change.

Prime Minister Mod also held talks with the island nation's Governor-General Bob Dadae separately and stressed on strengthening the partnership between the two countries across multiple sectors. In a tweet, Mr Modi said he had a wonderful meeting with Governor General of Papua New Guinea, Sir Bob Dadae and talked about ways to deepen bilateral relations between both the nations across different sectors.

The Prime Minister arrived in Papua New Guinea yesterday evening from Japan where he attended the summit of the G7 advanced economies and held bilateral meetings with several world leaders.

On the third leg of his visit, Prime Minister Modi will leave to Australia on three day visit, where he will hold a bilateral meeting with Australian counterparts Anthony Albanese.

Yesterday the Prime Minister office of Australia issued a statement and said Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Australia builds on the Australia-India Annual Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi in March and discussions at the G7 Summit and Quad Leaders' meeting in Hiroshima over the weekend.

The statement said during the bilateral meeting, both leaders will discuss trade and investment, including efforts to boost trade between the two countries through a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, and work to strengthen people-to-people links, renewable energy, and defence and security cooperation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also interacted with alumni of Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation programme from across Pacific Island Countries. He lauded them for keeping India in their hearts and reiterated his support for capacity-building efforts in the region.

After concluding a day-long first-ever visit to Papua New Guinea, the Prime Minister has departed for Sydney.