A Fiji academic based in Australia says today's "Engaging Fiji" meeting is allowing the interim government to save face after the cancellation of the Melanesian Spearhead Group summit.
Leaders from Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Kiribati and Tuvalu are reported to be attending the meeting, along with representatives from Tonga, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, and East Timor.
The Australian National University's Dr Brij Lal says the meeting allows the regime to claim a victory of sorts over New Zealand and Australia.
"It was a meeting to show the people of Fiji and the region that Fiji still has clout, and the meeting was called Engaging with the Pacific. That's fine, but I think that the real problem at the moment is that Commodore Bainimarama really should engage with the major stakeholders in the country."
Dr Brij Lal
Opening the meeting, Commodore Frank Bainimarama told the leaders some challenges cannot be resolved by relying on traditional spheres of influence, which are often dictated by the Pacific's colonial past.
