U.S., Papua New Guinea sign defence agreement
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[May 22, 2023]
By Kirsty Needham
(Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed a defence
cooperation agreement with Papua New Guinea on Monday, which he said
would expand the Pacific island nation's capabilities and make it easier
for the U.S. military to train with its forces.
Blinken was also set to meet 14 other Pacific island leaders. India's
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier pledged support for the Pacific
Islands at a summit in the capital, Port Moresby.
The United States and its allies are seeking to deter Pacific island
nations from forming security ties with China, a rising concern amid
tension over Taiwan.
Leaders of the Pacific islands, whose territories span 40 million square
km (15 million square miles) of ocean, have said rising sea levels
caused by climate change are their most pressing security priority.
Meeting PNG Prime Minister James Marape, Blinken said the United States
would deepen its partnership across the board with PNG. They discussed
economic development, the climate crisis, and the importance of
continuing U.S. engagement with the Pacific, the U.S. State Department
said.
"The defence cooperation was drafted by the United States and Papua New
Guinea as equals and sovereign partners," Blinken said at a signing
ceremony.
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It will expand PNG defence capabilities to enhance humanitarian
assistance and disaster response, and make it easy for United States and
PNG forces to train together, Blinken said.
"It will be fully transparent," he added.
China's foreign ministry said it had no objection to normal exchanges
and equal and mutually beneficial cooperation between relevant parties
and Pacific island countries such as PNG, but cautioned against
"geopolitical games".
"What we need to be vigilant about is engaging in geopolitical games in
the name of cooperation, and we also believe that no cooperation should
target any third parties," ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a news
briefing.
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'KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING'
The United States and PNG struck a separate agreement on increasing
maritime surveillance of PNG's exclusive economic zone through U.S.
Coast Guard patrols, protecting its economy from illegal fishing.
Blinken said partnerships with businesses would bring tens of billions
of dollars' worth of new investment to PNG.
U.S. President Joe Biden sent "his regret that he was not able to be
here", he added. Biden was forced to cancel his travel to PNG amid debt
ceiling negotiations in Washington.
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![](../images/052223PIX/news_x16.jpg)
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is
greeted by Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape at Jackson
International Airport, at Papua New Guinea May 21, 2023. Papua New
Guinea government/Handout via REUTERS
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Marape said the agreement would boost economic security by giving
PNG's defence force "the ability to know what is happening in its
waters - something we have never had since 1975".
Several universities held protests at campuses against the signing
of the Defence Cooperation Agreement, with opposition politicians
saying it would upset China. Marape has denied it would stop PNG
from working with China, an important trade partner.
The U.S. defence agreement was an extension of an existing
agreement, he said earlier.
Marape told media on Sunday the defence agreement would also see an
increase in U.S. military presence over the next decade.
The United States will provide $45 million in new funds as it worked
with PNG to strengthen economic and security cooperation, including
protective equipment for the PNG defence force, climate change
mitigation and tackling transnational crime and HIV/AIDS, the State
Department said.
Modi told the 14 leaders of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands
Cooperation that India would be a reliable development partner and
was committed to a "free, open and inclusive Indo Pacific".
"Without any doubt we are willing to share our capabilities and
experiences in digital technology, space technology, health
security, food security, climate change and environment protection,"
he said.
The Quad leaders of Australia, United States, Japan and India had
agreed in Hiroshima to increase cooperation with the Pacific, he
said.
In his opening remarks, Marape urged India to think of small island
states that "suffer as a result of big nations at play".
Marape said Russia's war with Ukraine, for instance, had caused
inflation and high fuel and power prices in the region's small
economies.
Historians have said PNG and the Solomon Islands - which last year
struck a security pact with China - were essential to the U.S. drive
across the Pacific to liberate the Philippines in World War Two.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham and Praveen Menon in Sydney; additional
reporting by Lucy Craymer in Wellington, Liz Lee and Ethan Wang in
Beijing; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Gerry Doyle)
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