Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape said on Thursday (May 18) that the country will sign a security pact with the US. The pact will give US troops access to the Pacific nation’s ports and airports. The development has come amid Washington’s attempts to jostle for influence in this region with China.
China is actively trying to woo island nations in the Pacific with an array of diplomatic and financial incentives in return for strategic support. US President Joe Biden has placed more importance on the region given the situation.
“We are elevating to a specific defence cooperation agreement, something that is falling short of a treaty,” he told a press conference.
“We are moving ahead, we are signing with the best military on the face of planet Earth.”
What are the pacts?
PM Marape said that the two agreements will focus on defence co-operation and maritime surveillance. The pact will be formally signed at the earliest after parliamentary approval.
These agreements can be renewed every 15 years. They will give the US vital manoeuvrability in Papua New Guinea’s waters which are near to sea routes to Australia and Japan. US will in return will give access to satellite surveillance.
“It now gives us an opportune time to focus not just on maritime access but satellite access on… illegal activities on the high sea,” Marape said.
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A leaked draft version of the defence cooperation agreement showed American forces would have broad autonomy at some of the country’s key entry points, but Marape said any access would have to be approved by his government.
“The ports, the infrastructure… will not in any way stand to be exclusively used by the military,” he said.
“They would always be asking our defence to have access to our facilities.”
The visit that almost happened
Biden was due for a historic first visit to most populous South Pacific nation next week. But he had to cancel the trip because of domestic debt ceiling crisis talks.
The White House said Biden called Marape from Air Force One on Thursday to inform him that Secretary of State Antony Blinken would instead attend the summit with Pacific leaders in Port Moresby on Monday.
Biden invited Marape and other Pacific leaders to another summit in Washington later this year to carry on “discussions around enhancing US-Pacific cooperation”, the White House said in a statement.
Washington is courting Pacific nations more intensely after the Solomon Islands became the unlikely epicentre of a diplomatic tussle between the United States and China last year when it signed a security pact with Beijing.
(With inputs from agencies)
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