New Delhi [India], August 27 (ANI): Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka on Tuesday delivered a lecture on the theme 'Ocean of Peace' at Sapru House, highlighting the Pacific region's role in promoting peace, stability, and maritime harmony.

Opening his remarks, Rabuka said, 'Greetings from the President, the Government, the Chiefs and the people of Fiji. It is my distinct honour to be here in New Delhi to make some remarks on the Ocean of Peace concept, of which I am probably the principal advocate during this decade. There have been many who have tried to promote the concept of the Pacific as an Ocean of Peace.'

He underlined the vastness of the Pacific and its geostrategic importance. 'While our island state might be small and scattered in the Pacific Ocean, collectively we have sovereign rights over 32 million square kilometres of the blue Pacific. This area alone is only slightly smaller than the combined land areas of Russia, China and the United States of America.'

Speaking about regional identity, he added, 'Yet Pacific peoples have remained resilient. We are united by a shared identity and a deep guardianship of our ocean, although it is the world's ocean, the Pacific. This resilience and unity inspired the Ocean of Peace concept and its vision for the future.'

Recalling the history of Pacific peoples, the Fijian leader noted, 'Our forebears journeyed into the unknown some 3,000 years ago in great outrigger canoes. They steered by brilliant navigation using the stars only at the time. These pioneers sailed infinite miles month after month, finally settling on the islands and atolls that they discovered.'

Calling this 'one of the most remarkable migrations of a people,' Rabuka also pointed to the region's vulnerabilities. 'The blue Pacific has been a theatre of external wars. It has been treated as a testing ground for the most dangerous weapons. It has endured catastrophic calamities caused by climate change and its rich resources exploited by many. This is the current reality of the blue Pacific.'

He stressed that Fiji has already incorporated these challenges into its policy. 'Recognising these security dynamics, in September 2024, Fiji launched its inaugural foreign policy white paper, which carefully articulates that our most significant security threat lies in the prospect of a wider region driven by division, insecurity and instability.'

Drawing on his personal journey, Rabuka said, 'As I farewell the draft of peacekeepers, when I was commander of the Fiji Army, I told them we cannot give anybody anything we do not have. And we have been peacekeeping in the Middle East since 1978. And people ask, where are you from, Fiji? Where is that in the Pacific? So I thought one of the very basic things we must create in the homeland, home area of these peacekeepers is to take abroad a peace that we already feel at home.'

'That is why I have advocated for the Pacific to be a zone or an ocean of peace. This challenge for peace has faced me squarely for the past few years, and in fact, since I became a peacekeeper and a politician,' he added.

Addressing wider global concerns, he remarked, 'We live in a time where there is growing economic uncertainty throughout the world, and that is felt very keenly in our geographically dispersed Pacific states. The global rules-based international order has been tested to its limits. And multilateralism is eroding in the face of prolonged conflicts and humanitarian catastrophes. Further exacerbating the situation is the existential threat posed by the impact of climate change. Rising sea levels, increasingly severe weather events and the changing ecosystem threaten our ways of life and our very existence in the blue Pacific.'

Rabuka emphasised the importance of collective action. 'That brings me to what we can do as a Pacific family through the Ocean of Peace concept, which is founded on the Pacific way of dialogue, diplomacy and consensus. I have always believed in the Pacific approach to security, to stability and to prosperity. We are stronger when we stand together.'

He recalled his proposal at the Pacific Island Forum in 2023, stating that he had urged 'that regional leaders agree on a set of principles that embed peace as the cornerstone of our individual and collective policies in the region.'

Explaining the core of the idea, he said, 'At the core of the concept is a shared aspiration rooted in our traditions and guided by a collective commitment to regional cooperation and stability. It reaffirms our commitment to ensuring our people can lead free, healthy and productive lives. In effect, the Ocean of Peace concept is a signal that we seek a region in which strategic competition is managed, where stability is the touchstone of regional relationships, and where coercion is kept in check.'

He further underlined that peace must go hand in hand with development. 'This concept also calls for us to remain committed to peaceful development because lasting peace across our countries requires a careful balance between national security and sustainable development. This elusive peace is not something achieved through our police or security forces alone. It also requires families and communities, societies and nations that are built on the foundation of harmony, stability, satisfaction with life, and freedom from want and fear.'

Concluding his address, Rabuka outlined the guiding values. 'The Ocean of Peace stands on core principles of the concept which primarily draws our foundational tenets of Pacific regionalism. It is our opportunity to weave the threads of our Pacific past with our vision for our Pacific future. The Ocean of Peace concept is based on the following twelve principles: a shared commitment to peaceful resolution of disputes based on the Pacific way; respect for international law and norms--we recall the United Nations General Assembly Declaration on the Rights of People to Peace that was adopted on the 12th of November 1984; rejection of coercion as a means to achieve security, economic or political advantage; freedom to determine our own security and strategic policies; upholding freedom of navigation and overflights; and a commitment to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.' (ANI)