Australia, Papua New Guinea armed forces to work together under ‘ambitious’ security pact
- Defence Minister Richard Marles said the proposed deal will see navy, air force and army personnel from the two nations working alongside each other more often
- The US said last month it would start talks on a defence agreement with Port Moresby in a bid to counter China’s growing influence in the region
Marles’s first visit to Papua New Guinea comes after the United States said at a White House summit last month it would start talks on a defence cooperation agreement with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape’s government.
Speaking to reporters alongside Marape on Thursday, Marles said Australia wanted to elevate its security cooperation with Papua New Guinea to the status of a bilateral treaty as soon as possible.
“The defence relationship is one of the strengths of the bilateral relationship but this is really playing to that strength,” he said, adding most officers of the Papua New Guinea defence force already undertake some training in Australia.
A treaty would seek to make defence cooperation “even closer, where we are having defence personnel working alongside each other more” across maritime, aviation and army, he said.
The bilateral defence talks had a “very ambitious agenda”, he said.