On Monday, Papua New Guinea (PNG) will sign a defense treaty with the US while hosting Washington’s top diplomat and India’s prime minister for discussions likely to focus on China’s growing influence in the Pacific. PNG, north of Australia, is strategically important and had brutal World War II fighting. The US State Department claimed the Defense Cooperation Agreement will “enhance security cooperation and further strengthen our bilateral relationship, improve the capacity of the PNG Defense Force, and increase stability and security in the region”.
Prime Minister James Marape said the arrangement will assist PNG overcome major problems. “We have our internal security and our sovereignty security issues,” Marape remarked Monday morning. “We are taking action to secure our borders.” He announced last week that PNG will use US satellite monitoring to fight “illegal activities on the high sea.” Several university campuses, notably Lae, the country’s second-largest city, protested the deal out of worry about its impact on commerce with China. Beijing’s security deal with the Solomon Islands last year raised fears about Pacific militarization. The US has opened new embassies and hosted a historic Pacific leaders conference at the White House due to that deal. After signing the defense deal, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with 14 Pacific leaders, including New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, in Port Moresby. Police Commissioner David Manning said roads were shut and defense patrol boats were in the water surrounding the gathering place. President Joe Biden cancelled his PNG trip to attend debt ceiling negotiations in Washington. First serving president to visit the country. China’s Pacific presence drives the US-Papua New Guinea security accord, analysts believe.
“Port Moresby is no longer the sleepy diplomatic outpost it once was,” USIP Pacific Islands senior advisor Gordon Peake told AFP. “China is an important subtext in this story of deepening US-PNG relations.” Marape said he may strike similar arrangements with other nations, including China. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is meeting Pacific leaders in PNG. Modi assured the 14 Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation leaders that India will support tiny island governments through supply chain disruptions and climate change. India supported an open Indo-Pacific, he said.
