INDO-FIJIAN RELATIONS GOOD DESPITE MILITARY COUP

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 001250

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT. FOR SCA AND EAP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2017
TAGS: PREL FJ IN PBTS PGOV PINR
SUBJECT: INDO-FIJIAN RELATIONS GOOD DESPITE MILITARY COUP
AND INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION

REF: SUVA 150

Classified By: Political Counselor Ted Osius for Reasons 1.4 (B, D)


1. (C) Summary: Fiji's interim Foreign Affairs and
External Trade Minister, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, visited New
Delhi March 3-4 (reftel). He met with both Ambika Soni,
Indian Minister of Tourism and Culture, and Pranab Mukherjee,
Minister of External Affairs, from whom Nailatikau reportedly
received a "positive response" while requesting Indian
assistance for democratic reforms and trade and economic
cooperation. India hopes to keep relations with Fiji on the
positive trajectory they have been on for two years, say
Embassy contacts. A key politician with close ties to the
Ministry of External Affairs and a sizable ethnic-Indian
minority in Fiji have also given India reason not to
criticize Fijian internal politics, as other nations have
done. End Summary.


2. (C) Poloff spoke with Dr. Man Mohini Kaul, a professor
of Southwest Pacific Relations at Jawaharlal Nehru
University, on March 12. Kaul said that the situation was
somewhat "confusing" for Indian intellectuals because India
did not react harshly to Fiji's December 2006 military coup.
She explained that, although top governmental positions have
changed, much of the government has remained the same. Kaul
noted that the "alienated" Indo-Fijian agrarian population,
however, is now hopeful that century-old land-lease laws that
limit ownership to ethnic-Fijians may be changed. Kaul
expects this to be an issue that divides along ethnic lines,
and predicts that the current interim government is not
likely to address this matter. She added that India-Fijian
relations have been moving in a positive direction for the
last two years as part of India's "Look East Policy," and
that Fiji did not take kindly to condemnations of the coup
from several countries, including fourteen neighboring island
nations, Australia, and New Zealand.


3. (C) Poloff also contacted Dr. Ganganath Jha of
Jawaharlal Nehru University on March 12, who said that former
Fijian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry is the primary
impetus for India and Fiji to remain on good terms. Chaudhry
is an Indo-Fijian member of the "ruling clique" who has
connections to India's ambassador to Fiji and others in the
Indian Ministry of External Affairs. Jha believed that
Chaudhry is capitalizing on Indian support from abroad to
increase his influence as Finance Minister and Fiji Labor
Party leader as well as solidify his base among Fiji's
ethnic-Indian minority community. For its part, Jha said
that India attaches "a great deal of importance" to its
relationship with Fiji because India views the island nation,
like Australia and New Zealand, as a means to "make its
presence felt" in the South Pacific.

NEW DELHI 00001250 002 OF 002




4. (C) Comment: As Jha mentioned, Fiji may provide India a
base from which to exert political and economic influence in
the Pacific Ocean. Kaul said that she led a delegation to
Fiji two years ago at the start of India-Fiji engagement.
She noted that China had already sent multiple delegations to
Fiji around the same time. India may now be trying to court
Fiji as a partner nation in that region as its strategic view
broadens and extends farther east. With its substantial
ethic-Indian minority, Fiji may also engender a sense of
pride among Indians. Chaudhry has received media attention
and governmental audiences in previous visits to I.dia as
Prime Minister of Fiji, and some in the MEA are no doubt
heartened by the fact that Indo-Fijians' concerns are being
partially ameliorated under the current regime. End Comment.
PYATT