Jaipur Foot, the world-famous prosthetic limbs, figures prominently in the 12-step programme announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday to propel India’s partnerships with Pacific Island countries.

The prime minister co-chaired a meeting with Pacific Island leaders to discuss ways to better cooperate in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, a spokesman of Shree Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) said here on Monday.

“It will fulfill the developmental aspirations of the people of the region and consolidate the shared vision of a free, open and prosperous Indo- Pacific Cooperation, “Ministry of external affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

The prime minister made the announcement while co-chairing the 3rd India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit in Papua New Guinea.

MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi listed out all the 12 steps announced by PM Modi. Out of these 12 steps,  Prime Minister Modi announced that in all three  special camps for providing artificial limbs  to the pacific Islanders  will be organized and the first such camp will be held in Papua New Guinea this year, Thereafter ,the two camps annually will be held in various other Pacific Island countries.

Under these steps, India will provide solar projects for government buildings, provide desalination units for drinking water, supply sea ambulances, set up dialysis units, set up of 24×7 emergency helpline, set up of Jan Aushadi Kendras, and set up Yoga centres.

This is PM Modi’s first tour to PNG, as well as the first-ever visit by any Indian Prime Minister to the Indo-Pacific country.

Founder of BMVSS D R Mehta said inclusion of the Jaipur Foot in the 12 steps is its recognition as a soft power of India to be leveraged for generating goodwill for itself.

Mehta said the whole process of introducing Jaipur Foot for the rehabilitation of the amputees of the Pacific Islands was started in 2019 when in the FIPIC summit in New York, Prime Minister Modi announced that  the camp will be  held in Fiji Island. But because of the Covid the camp could be held  in November 2022 in Suva and the camp was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of Fiji Frank Bainimarama. This camp in Fiji was very successful with 629 amputees getting the artificial limbs.