Papua New Guinea (PNG) will today (Monday) sign a defence pact with the United States as it hosts Washington’s top diplomat and India’s prime minister for separate talks likely to be dominated by China’s increasing influence in the Pacific.
Africa Today News, New York reports that PNG which is located just north of Australia, is strategically important and was the site of fierce battles during World War II.
The US State Department said the Defence Cooperation Agreement would ‘enhance security cooperation and further strengthen our bilateral relationship, improve the capacity of the PNG Defence Force, and increase stability and security in the region’.
PNG Prime Minister James Marape revealed that the deal would help his country face significant challenges.
‘We have our internal security as well as our sovereignty security issues,’ Marape said on Monday morning. ‘We are stepping up on that front to make sure our borders are secure.’
Last week he said the deal would provide PNG with access to US satellite surveillance to battle “illegal activities on the high sea”.
Concerned about the impact on the country’s relationship with China, a significant trading partner, there were demonstrations against signing the agreement at a number of university campuses, including in Lae, the second-largest city in the nation.
After Beijing inked a security pact with the Solomon Islands last year, there are also worries about the militarization of the Pacific. The US has reaffirmed its commitment to the region as a result of that deal, building new embassies and holding an extraordinary summit of Pacific leaders at the White House.
After signing the defence pact, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet separately with 14 Pacific leaders, including Chris Hipkins of New Zealand, in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Police Commissioner David Manning said there was a heavy police and military presence around the capital with roads blocked and defence patrol boats in the water around the meeting venue.
US President Joe Biden was supposed to travel to PNG but cancelled the trip to take part in debt ceiling talks in Washington. He would have been the first sitting president to visit the country.
While the US defence pact is being framed as a deal to protect Papua New Guinea’s territorial borders, experts say China’s Pacific presence is a key driver.