India and Papua New Guinea held first round of Foreign Office Consultations on Monday and reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations, including development partnership, and political, economic and cultural ties. During the consultations held at Port Moresby, the two sides exchanged views on regional and global issues and cooperation in multilateral fora.

The Indian side was led by Saurabh Kumar, Secretary (East), and Papua New Guinea side was led by Elias Wohengu, Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs. "During the FoC, both sides reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations, including development partnership, and political, economic and cultural ties.

“They also discussed the joint hosting by the two countries of the third Summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) to be held in Port Moresby," an MEA release said.

Saurabh Kumar paid floral tributes to the bust of Mahatma Gandhi and unveiled the plaque at the Centre for Excellence in Information Technology (CEIT), established by the Government of India in the University of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby. The Centre offers specialized training programmes in Information Communication and Technology (ICT) to the local population.

It was decided to hold the next round of FoC in Delhi at mutually convenient dates, the release said.

Image courtesy: Twitter/@MEAIndia