Pacific island countries to boost bilateral ties. Modi met Hipkins on the sidelines of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) summit. This was the first interaction between the two Prime Ministers since Hipkins assumed office in January.

“Had an excellent meeting with New Zealand PM @chrishipkins and discussed the full range of India-NZ relations. We talked about how to improve commercial and cultural linkages between our nations,” Prime Minister Modi tweeted. The two leaders discussed ongoing bilateral cooperation initiatives and agreed to expand cooperation in various sectors including trade & commerce, education, information technology, tourism, culture, sports and people-to-people ties, the Ministry of External Affairs said.