Pacific Islands Forum to meet in Papua New Guinea next week

ANKARA

Leaders of the countries and territories in the Pacific Islands Forum are going to meet in Papua New Guinea next week despite US President Joe Biden canceling his planned visit to the island, local media reported.

The block leaders will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a high-level US delegation in the capital Port Moresby on Monday to discuss challenges facing the region.

“The leaders will discuss ways to deepen cooperation on challenges critical to the region and to the United States such as combating climate change, protecting maritime resources, and advancing resilient and inclusive economic growth,” Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape said in a statement earlier this week.

The White House, in a statement, confirmed that Biden has canceled his visit to Papua New Guinea, which would have been the first visit by a sitting US president to the resource-rich but largely undeveloped country of 9.4 million people just north of Australia.

Biden, who had to cancel the visit to focus on the ongoing debt limit talks in Washington, was scheduled to arrive in Port Moresby on Monday afternoon.

He was expected to sign a few important agreements during his scheduled visit to the Pacific region to counter China, which has stepped up efforts to increase its influence in the region in recent years, local English daily The National reported.

The US Embassy in Port Moresby will confirm which senior US official will come to Papua New Guinea to sign the key agreements, the daily reported.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Port Moresby to co-host the third India-Pacific Islands Cooperation Forum, to be held between May 21-24.

The forum, launched in 2014, is a platform that brings together India and 14 Pacific Island countries.

Papua New Guinea is being courted by China and the United States and its allies, as Marape seeks to boost foreign investment. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the country in 2018.

Washington has stepped up efforts to counter Beijing's growing influence in the region after China struck a security pact with the Solomon Islands last year.

China and Australia have been major aid and infrastructure donors in the region.

The 18 countries and territories in the Pacific Islands Forum cover 30 million square kilometers (10 million square miles) of ocean. The region's leaders say climate change is their greatest security threat, amid worsening cyclones and rising sea levels.