Indian President Droupadi Murmu Photo: Facebook / Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka
The Fiji government is set to roll out the red carpet for the Indian President Droupadi Murmu, who will be vising the country next week.
Murmu will be the first head of state to visit Fiji and is set to address the Fijian Parliament and hold meetings with President Wiliame Katonivere and Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.
She is also expected to sign an agreement on the proposed sites for the construction of a new Indian Chancery, Cultural Centre and staff residence, as well as the 100-Bed Super Specialty Hospital in the capital, according to the Fiji government.
Rabuka's office said a committee has been established to coordinate the visit and to ensure that each element of the programme is planned and executed as per expected standards.
Fiji and India have a long-standing relationship, which began in 1879, when Indian indentured labourers who were brought to the Pacific nation by British colonialists to work on sugarcane plantations.
Around 60,000 Indians were brought to Fiji under the indenture system - which some have described as slavery - between 1879 and 1916.
"With the abolition of the indenture system in 1920, some have chosen to remain in Fiji, whilst others returned to India. Those that have stayed in Fiji now call Fiji their home and have contributed immensely towards the socio-economic development of modern Fiji," Katonivere said at the World Hindi Conference in Nadi last year.
Race relations between the two major ethnic communities - the indigenous/iTaukei and Indo-Fijians - since independence in 1970 has been a significant point of conflict.
It has resulted in four coups - started by Rabuka in 1987 - forcing many Fijians of Indian decent to emigrate to countries like Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
But Indo-Fijians continue to shape the trajectory of Fijian society, and today make up over 34 percent of the population in a nation of under one million people.
Murmu will be the fourth high-level Indian officials to visit Fiji since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 2014.
She will be in the country from 5 to 7 August, before traveling to New Zealand between 7 and 9 August to hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro.
