NEW DELHI: Prime minister Narendra Modi will make a stopover in Fiji en route to India after the G20 summit in Australia. He is not the only global leader to acknowledge the growing importance of this Pacific island nation. In fact, Fiji will play host to Chinese President Xi Jinping at the same time, who will also be stopping over for a visit.

With the US lifting sanctions on Fiji this week, and the Commonwealth re-admitting it after their elections in September, the world's interest in Fiji has been rekindled. Frank Bainimarama and his party won the September elections with about 59 per cent of votes.

India has traditionally maintained an interest in the country, largely due to the large number of Indo-Fijians who, at one time, were the dominant ethnic community there before many were forced to emigrate. India traces its ties to Fiji back to 1879, when indentured Indian labourers were brought to work in the sugar plantations. According to the MEA, "between 1879 and 1916, around 60,000 Indians were brought to Fiji. Beginning with early 20th century, Indian traders and others also started arriving in Fiji."

While Indira Gandhi was the last Indian prime minister to visit, there has been a steady stream of Fijian leaders, including Bainamarama himself, to India over the years. Bainamarama's last visit here was in 2012.

In the past few years, China has stepped up its involvement with the Pacific islands enormously. In 2013, China announced a large aid package for the islands topping $2 billion, challenging Australia's pole position with these small countries in the pacific.