Pacific Islands leaders back Australia-funded joint policing plan
- August 29, 2024
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Pacific Islands leaders back Australia-funded joint policing plan
Sub: IR
Sec: Int groupings
Context:
- Pacific Islands states have backed an Australian-funded regional policing plan to improve training and create a multinational crisis reaction force.
- The decision was made during the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) summit in Tonga.
Details of the plan:
- Under the plan, four training centres will be established across the Pacific with a separate hub in the Australian city of Brisbane.
- The initiative will also create a multi-country policing force of about 200 officers to be deployed to countries in the region in the event of major events or crises.
China factor:
- Australia and New Zealand, both founding members of the PIF, have traditionally acted as the region’s go-to security partners, leading peacekeeping missions in Solomon Islands and training in Nauru, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.
- But China, a major infrastructure lender in the region, has also been developing ties, signing a secretive security pact with Solomon Islands in 2022.
- Beijing’s attempt to secure a region-wide agreement late that year ended in failure but it has been providing martial arts training and Chinese-made vehicles to police in a number of Pacific nations.
- China’s closest regional allies had voiced concern that the Australian policing plan was designed to box out Beijing.
About Pacific Islands Forum (PIF):
- Founded in 1971, the Pacific Islands Forum brings together 18 member states to discuss and coordinate responses to the issues confronting the region.
- It is headquartered in Suva, Fiji.
- The 53rd Pacific Islands Forum summit was held in Tonga in 2024.
- Member countries: Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.