Sitiveni Rabuka's visit to New Delhi marks a major shift in India-Fiji ties as the former coup leader who once expelled India's envoy now returns as an honoured guest, explains Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
India and Canada have mutually beneficial political and economic linkages. The two countries should get together and find a solution. The expulsion war should, in the meantime, be a guarantee against any deterioration of the situation, asserts Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, the first Indian head of mission to be ever expelled by any country.
Satendar Singh has gone from being a young Fiji-Indian who won a visa to the United States via the immigration lottery and landed in that country full of hope to the latest entry in the roster of hate crimes fuelled by homophobia
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Monday conferred with the highest honour of Fiji by its premier Sitiveni Rabuka in recognition of his global leadership, in a rare honour for a non-Fijian.
'We have been bold and innovative on recognition in the past and we do not need to rush,' advises Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
T P Sreenivasan was India's high commissioner in Fiji in 1987, when Sitiveni Rabuka toppled the Indian-dominated government there. Ambassador Sreenivasan stayed on for two years after the coup, fighting for the rights of the people of Indian origin before he was expelled by Rabuka. 'Meeting Sitiveni Rabuka, who had overthrown a democratically elected government, discriminated against the Fiji Indians, brought untold humiliation and suffering to them, tried to disenfranchise them, ordered me out of Fiji and closed down the Indian high commission was a difficult decision to take even after 25 years,' notes Ambassador Sreenivasan who eventually caught up with Rabuka over a game of golf.
'A P Venkateswaran left an indelible impression on Indian diplomacy and made an incredible number of friends, who kept remembering him, more than other Indian diplomats, who served at those posts.' Ambassador T P Sreenivasan salutes a legend of the Indian Foreign Service who passed into the ages.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be the second Indian prime minister to visit Fiji after Indira Gandhi, comes at a time when the islands are moving to consolidate the new democratic system
As India gears up to honour its pravasis on January 9 to mark their contribution in the nation's development, rediff.com presents perspectives from eminent writers on the Diaspora. Kicking off the series is Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, who points out that the change of the Diaspora policy put in place by Rajiv Gandhi following the military coup in Fiji and his decision to stand by them, was the one defining moment in India's dealings with its overseas family.
'The benefits may not be visible immediately, but the general feeling of wellness, rejuvenation and relaxation is palpable.' 'A former President had the habit of undergoing Ayurveda treatment every year in Kerala and he remarked once that he felt ten years younger every time he took the treatment.'
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