Washington: Joe Biden will develop into the primary American president to go to the Pacific Islands later this month, when he travels to Papua New Guinea for bilateral engagements and to attend the primary US-Pacific Islands Summit, the White Home introduced on Tuesday.

In an announcement, White Home press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated that Biden will cease over within the island on his method from the G7 summit in Hiroshima to the Quad leaders’ summit in Sydney. “President Biden will meet with Prime Minister Marape of Papua New Guinea and different Pacific Island Discussion board leaders to observe up on the first-ever US–Pacific Island Summit in Washington, DC final fall.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too, can be in Papua New Guinea to satisfy Pacific Island Discussion board leaders on the identical time and attend the Discussion board for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation. Whereas the White Home assertion didn’t announce a gathering between the 2 leaders, Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape had stated earlier this month that he appeared ahead to welcoming Biden and Modi. “Papua New Guinea is able to obtain each President Biden and Prime Minister Modi. It is a historic first, and on the identical time a ‘going ahead’ futuristic assembly of worldwide superpowers, within the largest nation within the Pacific,” Marape stated.

The White Home stated Biden and Pacific Island leaders will talk about methods to deepen cooperation on challenges corresponding to combating local weather change, defending maritime sources, and advancing resilient and inclusive financial progress”. “As a Pacific nation, the USA has deep historic and people-to-people ties with the Pacific Islands, and this go to – the primary time a sitting US President has visited a Pacific Island nation – additional reinforces this crucial partnership.”

The Pacific Islands have, lately, develop into a brand new website of geopolitical contestation between China on one hand, and the West on the opposite. With China and Solomon Islands agreeing on a safety pact in early 2022, the US stepped up its diplomatic offensive within the area. Biden’s Indo-Pacific czar Kurt Campbell visited the area. The US, together with Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and Japan launched the Companions within the Blue Pacific initiative. India is an observer within the group.

After which White Home hosted all Pacific Island leaders for a historic summit in Washington DC in September 2022 — this was the primary time they have been invited to the President’s residence for a proper summit. Issuing a declaration on US-Pacific partnership, the taking part nations, in an acknowledgment of the largest concern of the Pacific Island nations, agreed to deal with local weather disaster as “the best precedence of our partnership, for it stays the one biggest existential menace to the livelihoods, safety, conventional and customary practices, and wellbeing of individuals within the Pacific area”.

As well as, in an acknowledgment of American safety considerations, the declaration stated, “In selling peace and safety, we recognise the significance of worldwide legislation as mirrored within the United Nations Conference on the Legislation of the Sea (UNCLOS), together with on freedom of navigation and overflight. We’ll oppose all efforts to undermine the territorial integrity and sovereignty of any nation, massive or small.”

Final 12 months, responding to a query from HT on how he noticed the position of India within the Pacific Islands, Campbell had stated, “India is an observer in Companions of the Blue Pacific. They’ve been partaking with us. They’ve sturdy and deep historic ties within the Pacific, in Fiji, and elsewhere. We look ahead to working extra intently with India within the Pacific. One of many issues I’ve been most gratified by is the shut coordination with India within the Indo-Pacific on a spread of points, together with the island nations. I look ahead to that cooperation persevering with.”

The simultaneous go to of Biden and Modi is anticipated to accentuate cooperation on this theatre of the Indo-Pacific.