Sydney (Reuters) -The Papua -NEW -GUINEA Cabinet has approved a defense agreement with Australia, said Prime Minister James Marape on Thursday, while Canberra China strives to expand his security of safety in the Pacific.
Under the Pukpuk Defense Convention, Australia and Papua are obliged to help each other if they are attacked.
“Australia has only one other mutual defense agreement of this type and at our request Papua -Guinea will now sign this Convention,” Marape said in a statement.
“This reflects the depth of trust, history and shared future between our two nations.”
The Convention would also allow no less than 10,000 Papua -Wineans to serve with the Australian Defense Force, under double regulations, according to the statement.
The historical treaty still requires ratification of the parliaments of both countries.
The agreement was supposed to have been approved when Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanian was in Port Moresby two weeks ago during celebrations of PNG's 50th Independence Anniversary.
The two countries had agreed a joint communique about the text of the pact, after a meeting of the PNG cabinet was missing the quorum that was necessary to ratify it.
Albanian also traveled to Vanuatu last month, but failed to secure a security partner of $ 500 million ($ 330.70 million) because a coalition partner in the Vanuatu government for further research.
Australia has tried to use the security agreements to block the Chinese influence in the region, after China had hit a security pact with the Solomon Islands.
In 2023, the United States hit a PNG defense pact to combat China's security ambitions.
The Pukpuk treaty also acknowledges that both PNG and Australia can maintain defensions with other countries, said Marape. “There are facilities for respecting third -party relationships,” he said.
($ 1 = 1,5119 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Christine Chen in Sydney; Edit by Praveen Menon and Kate Mayberry)
