Line of Credit to Pacific Island Nations

• 26 Sep 2019

On the sidelines of the 74^th session of the UN General Assembly, the Indian Prime Minister has announced a $150 million worth line of credit to the group of Pacific island nations for undertaking solar, renewable energy and climate-related projects.

• The Indian PM also invited the leaders of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) to join the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
• Reaffirming the commitment to provide developmental assistance for capacity building, the PM proposed to organize specialized courses under the Indian Technical & Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC) programme in priority areas identified by partner countries.
• In the health sector, the Prime Minister offered to organize a Jaipur Foot Artificial Limb Fitment Camp in a Pacific regional hub under ‘India for Humanity’ programme.

India for Humanity

• As part of 150^th Birth Anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi, the 'India for Humanity' initiative was launched in 2018 in honour of Gandhiji's service to humanity.
• “India For Humanity” initiative was launched by the Ministry of External Affairs.
• It features a year-long series of artificial limb fitment camps in a number of countries spanning the globe.

India and PSIDS Relations

• With the evolution of the Act East Policy of India, India’s relationship with Pacific Island nations has deepened.
  
  • This resulted in the setting up of an action-oriented multinational grouping named Forum for India-Pacific Island Cooperation (FIPIC) in 2014, between India and the 14 Pacific Island nations.
• The PSIDS comprises of the 14 Pacific Island countries viz. The Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

• India and PSIDS have shared values and a shared future. The need today is for inclusive sustainable development policy in order to reduce inequalities and improve the quality of people’s lives.

Line of Credit

• It is a credit facility extended by a bank or any other financial institution to a government, business or an individual customer, that enables the customer to draw the maximum loan amount.
• The borrower can access funds from the line of credit at any time as long as they do not exceed the maximum amount (or credit limit) set in the agreement and meet any other requirements such as making timely minimum payments.

Source: IE