Bisnis.com, JAKARTA – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a joint meeting with Pacific Island leaders held in Papua New Guinea on Monday (22/5/2023).

Launch Reuters, On Monday (5/22/2023), the US Secretary of State is due to attend the meeting and sign a Joint Defense Agreement for Papua New Guinea at the same time.

In his opening address to the meeting, PNG Prime Minister James Marape mentioned that India is the leader of the Global South, a term that refers to several low- and middle-income countries, and added that our people have been left behind.

Modi told the 14 leaders of the India-Pacific Islands Cooperation Forum that India would be a reliable partner for small island nations in difficult times brought about by supply chain disruptions and climate change.

Earlier, Modi also wrote on social media that he discussed ways to develop trade, technology, healthcare and climate change cooperation with PNG during a bilateral meeting with him. the Marape.

It is expected that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will sign a US-PNG Defense Cooperation Agreement, and hold a meeting with Pacific Island leaders in the afternoon.

The United States will sign a Defense Cooperation Agreement with PNG to enhance cooperation in various areas such as economics and security, including defense equipment for the PNG Armed Forces, change management climate change and the fight against transnational crime and HIV/AIDS.

Marape said the defense agreement would also increase the US military presence in PNG over the next decade.

Police Commissioner David Manning said police and military had exercised heightened vigilance around Papua New Guinea’s capital, Port Moresby, closing roads, as well as deploying a number of patrol officers defenses around the meeting site, to protect the largest gathering of international leaders since the APEC summit in 2018.

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