Why in news?

• PM Modi has announced a $150 million line of credit to the group of Pacific island nations for undertaking solar, renewable energy and climate related projects based on their requirement.

Pacific Small Islands Developing States (PSIDS):

• The PSIDS comprises of the 14 Pacific Island countries viz. The Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

Small Island developing states (SIDS):

• SIDS is a group of small island countries that tend to share similar sustainable development challenges.
• The challenges include small but growing populations, limited resources, remoteness, susceptibility to natural disasters, vulnerability to external shocks, excessive dependence on international trade, and fragile environments.
• Their growth and development is also held back by high communication, energy and transportation costs and little to no opportunity to create economies of scale.
• These countries are across the globe in the Caribbean, the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and the Mediterranean and South China Sea.

Groupings:

• These are broken down into following three geographic regions, with each region having it’s own regional cooperation body.
  • Caribbean: The Caribbean Community
  • Pacific: The Pacific Islands Forum
  • Africa, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and South China Sea (AIMS)