Papua New Guinea Signs New Defense Pact with US To Expand Capabilities

United States and Papua New Guinea sign new defense pact to expand the Pacific Island nation's military capabilities
The pact comes as Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held separate meetings with Pacific island leaders
The efforts are part of an attempt to steer Pacific Island nations away from forming a security pact with China

The United States and Papua New Guinea have signed a new defense pact that would expand the Pacific Island nation's military capabilities, as Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed.

Blinken and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held separate meetings with 14 Pacific island leaders in the PNG capital of Port Moresby. The officials supported the region's health, development, and climate change priorities.

US-Papua New Guinea Defense Pact

The United States and its allies are looking to steer Pacific Island nations away from forming security ties with China, which has continued to expand its global influence. This has become a rising concern amid ongoing tensions with Taiwan. It also comes after Beijing formed a new security pact with the Solomon Islands, per Reuters.

The leaders of Pacific Island nations, whose territories span roughly 40 million square kilometers of ocean, argued that rising sea levels resulting from climate change was one of their most concerning priorities.

The US Secretary of State told PNG Prime Minister James Marape that the United States plans to deepen its relationship with the latter's territory. Blinken added that he expects partnerships with US businesses would result in tens of billions of dollars worth of new investment within the region.

In a joint news conference with Blinken, Marape said there is nothing to fear despite university students protesting against the defense pact on Monday. The agreement updates a US military relationship that he said had nothing to do with China.

During the signing ceremony of the new defense pact, Blinken said that Washington and PNG drafted the agreement as equals and sovereign partners. In response to this, China has so far had a "measured response, according to Aljazeera.

Blocking China's Expanding Influence

Reporting from Beijing, Katrina Yu said Beijing has no objection to PNG working with the United States. It added that the international community should focus more on the Pacific island region.

Yu added that the caveat to the situation is that China said that the cooperation between the US and PNG should not target a third party, which was a reference to itself. A professor of international security and intelligence at the Australian National University, John Blaxland, said recent developments show unrestricted competition.

The agreement between the United States and PNG was supposed to have been graced by the presence of President Joe Biden. However, the Democratic leader could not visit the Pacific Island nation following his trip to Hiroshima, Japan, to attend the G7 Summit.

Biden's cancellation of his trip to PNG was due to his trying to focus on domestic issues and instead sent Blinken to be his representative in the signing of the new defense pact. This comes after six months of preparation; the Democrat was unable to be the first US president to visit a Pacific Island nation, said BBC.