Australia and Australia and Papua New Guinea have signed a landmark security agreement that will see Australian Australian police will be deployed to Papua New Guinea. This was reported by CNN CNN UNN reports.
We have signed a significant and historic agreement. It will be easier for Australia to assist Papua New Guinea in address its internal security challenges, and we will both be better able to support each other's security and stability in the region
Details
The agreement enshrines Australia's role in Papua New Guinea's police, judiciary and defense. Australia has committed about $130 million to support these initiatives, including the establishment of a training center for police recruits.
The agreement also covers measures to combat gender-based violence, covers climate change, cybersecurity and disaster relief.
While the agreement does not prevent Papua New Guinea from signing pacts with other countries, both countries agreed to consult each other on security threats.
Speaking at a Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape said at a press conference that Australia has always supported his country. He also said that despite the friendly relations with Australia, his country will not unequivocally choose a side, as it pursues a side, as it pursues a foreign policy of "friends for all."
The signing of the of the document came after the signing of a security agreement in May between the United States and Papua New Guinea, which included the modernization of local military bases.
China's influence
Deepening of bilateral relations between the United States and Australia of bilateral relations between the United States and Australia with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region comes as China and Solomon Islands announced a bilateral pact in 2022. announced a bilateral security pact in 2012. China has signed a similar agreement with Vanuatu. These agreements have heightened concerns about the possibility of a Chinese military base in the Western Pacific and prompted Australia to launch a diplomatic offensive in the a diplomatic offensive in the Pacific.
Answering a question about China at a questions about China at a press conference in Canberra, Marape said that the relationship between Papua New Guinea's relations with the United States and Australia are not built "at the expense of our relations with other countries."