Pacific Islands

Hosting the first regional summit of the NDA government, India was stitching a positive relationship with the Pacific Islands even as the India-Pakistan NSA talks were coming apart. Anil Wadhwa, Secretary East in MEA, told journalists there was widespread support by the Pacific Islands for India's candidature in the UNSC.

New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research says water temperatures, which dictate El Niño's strenght, are already 3-5 degrees above normal with the potential to climb even higher in coming months.

Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Tonga are already affected by drought, with hundreds of thousands of farmers in PNG's Highlands region losing crops, prompting a national disaster response.

NIWA Forecaster Chris Brandolino says the current El Niño is projected to last well into the new year.

This will be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jaipur.

On Thursday, addressing the heads of the Pacific Island nations who are in New Delhi for the summit, President Pranab Mukherjee said: “UNSC reform and expansion will be discussed and concrete proposals are expected to be considered in the forthcoming UNGA session next month. An inter-governmental negotiating text is already on the table, for which India needs their support.”  

Leaders and delegates from 14 island nations are in Jaipur for the second Summit of the Forum for India- Pacific Islands Cooperation.

India's Economic Times quotes the country's External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, saying India stands ready to share its expertise and technology with the island nations to help them adapt to and to mitigate the effects of climate change.

The paper says India will push for greater cooperation with the island countries in sectors like oil and natural gas, mining, IT, healthcare, fishing and marine research.

During recent Pacer Plus trade negotiations, Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilapea Sailele Malielegaoi called on New Zealand unions to consider expanding the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme to areas such as construction and fisheries.

Mr Jones says a pilot fisheries training programme in Kiribati, funded by the New Zealand government, will allow some of its graduates to work in New Zealand.

He says regional leaders are keen to see similar programmes in other parts of the Pacific.

This week's Purse Seine Bigeye Tuna Management Workshop in Majuro was told commercial fishing boats caught over 2.8 million tons of tuna in 2014, an all-time record.

Most of those fish were caught by purse seiners.

The Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority scientist, Berry Muller, says the bigeye tuna catch at 161,299 tonnes was a five percent increase.

He says this maintains bigeye's "over-fished" state.

The international conference will be held on August 21.

The local administration and civic bodies have been pressed in to make the city beautiful while general administration department is overseeing the arrangements for the delegates.

The Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) has intensified efforts for the beautification of the city. Hotels where delegates will stay and visit have been earmarked and 10 teams have been deployed for cleaning and landscaping works in the city. Apart from that, officials from the electricity cell too are taking stock of the situation.

The independent Tasmanian MP has sent the application, naming the prime minister, Tony Abbott, and his 19-member cabinet, including the immigration minister, Scott Morrison.

“In my application I have particularly named crimes against humanity, such as the forced relocation of people, obviously to the Republic of Nauru or Papua New Guinea,” Wilkie said.

He also claims that the government’s hardline immigration policies contravene the Refugee Convention, Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

It says the Typhoon Watch has also been cancelled.

This morning, 9am local time, Tropical Storm Goni was 144 kilometres west of Saipan, 128 kilometres west of Tinian, 120 kilometres northwest of Rota and 168 kilometres north-northwest of Guam, packing 104 kph sustained winds. Tropical storm-force winds extend 120 from its centre.

Lead forecaster, Michael Ziobro, says Tropical Storm Goni will develop into a Typhoon either tonight or early tomorrow morning but it will be too faraway from Guam and the CNMI.

He says Goni is moving at 14 kilometres per hour.

That's how the people of Tuvalu feel.

It's predicted the Island nation, the smallest archipelago in the Pacific, could be underwater in the next 30 to 50 years due to rising sea levels.

Tuvalese leaders spoke of their plight at a breakfast event in Mangere last week as part of a Climate Change Tour hosted by NZ NGOs including Tear Fund and Oxfam. The tour aims to create awareness around the effect climate change is having on our pacific neighbours, and continues in Christchurch and Wellington this week.