Roundup: New Zealand PM pays first visit to Fiji since 2006

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key arrived in Suva on Thursday afternoon local time, becoming the first incumbent prime minister of New Zealand to visit Fiji since the Pacific island neighbor's 2006 coup.

Authorities have imposed temporary road closures in parts of the capital and some other places to streamline the much expected two-day official visit. Huge welcome signboards with a photograph of Key as well as Fijian greeting expression "Bula Vinaka" are seen along main roads.

Upon arrival, Key was met by his Fijian counterpart Voreqe Bainimarama at the airport before the two prime ministers inspected a military guard of honor. Key was then accorded a traditional indigenous Fijian welcome ceremony.

Key's visit is seen as a follow-up to New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully, who visited Fiji in February in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Winston, which claimed 44 lives and left a path of massive destruction in the Pacific island country.

The agenda for the official visit includes bilateral discussions which are expected to cover a range of issues including post-cyclone recovery and economic cooperation.

Key is also expected to visit a number of New Zealand funded projects in Fiji, according to the government-owned Fiji Broadcasting Corporation.

Prior to the visit, Key signaled that more aid may be in the pipeline for Fiji.

"This will be a significant step forward in the relations between the countries. No New Zealand prime minister has made an official visit to Fiji since 2006," leading local newspaper the Fiji Sun commented late last month.

"Diplomatic relations between New Zealand and Fiji soured after the 2006 takeover. Australia and New Zealand deserted Fiji and were instrumental in Fiji being suspended from Pacific Islands Forum (PIF)," the paper continued.

Relations between Fiji and the two developed neighbors thawed after Bainimarama's FijiFirst party won the 2014 general election, in which Bainimarama was elected prime minister.

After the election, Fiji's suspension from the Pacific Islands Forum was lifted. However, Bainimarama has been boycotting the forum ever since, declining to attend the Pacific Islands Forum's meetings, including one that was held in Papua New Guinea last September.

The Fijian prime minister has repeatedly said that he objects to Australia and New Zealand's "undue influence" -- which the two countries deny -- and said he believes the Pacific Islands Forum no longer serves the best interests of Pacific islands, and that he would not attend the Pacific Islands Forum until Australia and New Zealand become development partners rather than full members.

The Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF), whose full members do not include Australia or New Zealand and whose secretariat is also located at Suva, is seen by some to be competing with the PIF, which has been accused by Bainimarama as "dominated only by a few".

During McCully's visit to Fiji as a member of the PIF's Ministerial Contact Group in 2014, he declined to comment when asked by Xinhua about the potential cooperation or interaction between the PIF and the PIDF.

Trying to garner Fiji's support to Helen Clark, who is bidding for the United Nations secretary-general's post and who, as New Zealand's then prime minister, slapped sanctions on Fiji after the 2006 incident, is expected to be one of the objectives of Key's official visit, during which he might ask Bainimarama to forgive and support Clark, Fiji's and New Zealand's media have speculated.

Key also plans to raise the topic of Fiji's blacklisting of some New Zealand journalists, Radio New Zealand International said. Endit