Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape announced that US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in a meeting with Pacific Islands leaders next month. The meeting is being described as "historic" and focused on future-oriented discussions. Marape emphasized the significance of global superpowers coming together in the Pacific region, calling it a "going forward" futuristic meeting in the largest country in the Pacific.
US President Joe Biden is scheduled to make a stopover in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, on May 22. This will be the first time a sitting US president has visited the resource-rich but underdeveloped country, which has a population of 9.4 million and is located north of Australia.
Papua New Guinea is currently being courted by both China and the US and its allies, as Prime Minister James Marape seeks to attract foreign investment. In 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Papua New Guinea, indicating China's interest in the nation.
The visit by President Biden is expected to further bolster ties between the US and Papua New Guinea, as well as signal the US's commitment to the Pacific region.
Amid China's increasing influence in the Pacific region, Washington has intensified its efforts to counter China's growing presence in the area, especially after China's security pact with the Solomon Islands last year. Despite China's efforts to secure a broader security and trade agreement with ten Pacific island nations, it has failed to do so. Both China and Australia have been significant donors of aid and infrastructure in the region.
Papua New Guinea is currently in talks with the United States and Australia to negotiate security agreements, and its Prime Minister, James Marape, has also been invited to visit Beijing later this year. According to Marape, the Pacific Islands, including PNG, cannot be ignored in the Indo-Pacific conversation, given the region's vast forest and sea areas, which make up the world's largest carbon sink, as well as the biggest sea and air space on earth.
The Pacific Islands Forum, which consists of 18 countries and territories, covers 30 million square km (10 million square miles) of ocean. The leaders in the region have identified climate change as their greatest security threat, as they face increasing cyclones and rising sea levels.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Joe Biden will make a stop in Papua New Guinea on May 22 on their way to Australia for a summit of the Quad, which also includes Japan and Australia. Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister, James Marape, stated that he had invited Biden to visit his country when they met in Washington last year, and he was pleased that the President had kept his promise.
Marape also referred to the upcoming meeting as a "historic first and at the same time a 'going forward' futuristic meeting of global superpowers" and highlighted the significance of the Pacific Islands in the Indo-Pacific conversation, particularly due to the region's vast forest and sea areas.