It was symbolically significant that during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Papua New Guinea this week to attend the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) meeting, which was attended by 18 Pacific island leaders, US Pres. Joe Biden was supposed to join them. But due to ongoing date-ceiling talks in Washington, Biden had to abruptly cancel his visit. In the words of PNG Prime Minister James Marape, the Modi-Biden matchup would have been “a historic first, as well as a ‘forward-looking’ futuristic meeting of global superpowers in the largest country in the Pacific.” He is right in underlining its importance at a time when major powers are bent on reshaping the strategic configuration of the Indo-Pacific. As the geopolitical conflict now turns global, no part of the world is immune to the waves. Will remain
The central role of the Pacific Islands in the emerging geopolitical competition between China and the US has been clear for some time. Beijing has been engaged economically with the region since the 1980s, but the relationship has recently turned into a security-focused one. Last year, China and the Solomon Islands signed an agreement, apparently regarding Beijing as helping to strengthen the island nation’s national security capabilities. But it includes provisions under which China can “visit ships, conduct logistics substitutions and make stopovers and transitions in the Solomon Islands,” as well as to “protect the safety of Chinese personnel and key projects.” You can use your army.
In the past, Taiwan and China jostled for influence in the region. But gradually, as China’s economic clout grew, most Pacific island nations, except for the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, and Tuvalu, shifted their allegiance to Beijing. The Solomon Islands were wooed by China in 2019 with the promise of a $730 million aid package. Despite local discontent, as expressed by senior leaders that “our country’s long-term interests, development aspirations as well as respect for democratic principles, human rights, the rule of law, human dignity and mutual respect, lie with Taiwan”. Speaking, not the People’s Republic of China, “Beijing’s clout has only grown. Anti-government riots broke out in late 2021, further mobilizing the Chinese. In February, Daniel Suidani, head of the South Pacific nation’s Malaita province, a strong critic of the Chinese presence on the island, was removed from office.
China views the Pacific Islands as the key to its Belt and Road Initiative and has effectively used regional fora such as the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) and the China-Pacific Island Countries Economic Development and Cooperation Forum (EDCF). Have done Regular high-level dialogue between China and the South Pacific has been the recent norm. Last year, China’s then-foreign minister Wang Yi pushed hard for an all-region economic and security pact with the 10 Pacific island nations, called the Five-Year Action Plan on Common Development. Although he did not succeed, it underscored China’s growing ambitions for the region.
In contrast, the US approach has been weak. Washington has been unable and unwilling to prioritize its relations with the regional island nations. As China’s footprint expands, the US footprint shrinks—with the closure of its embassy in the Solomon Islands in 1993, as well as a focus on its military reach, ignoring the region’s developmental priorities Its association has also been one-dimensional.
It took China’s apparent position in the region to wake the US from its slumber, with Biden’s Indo-Pacific czar, Kurt Campbell, suggesting that the Pacific region could be “some sort of strategic surprise” in the form of a Chinese military presence. and that the US needed to “step up substantially”. [its] The White House then unveiled the US-Pacific Island Strategy to expand US diplomatic presence in the region and held the first-ever US-Pacific Island Country Summit last September. In its nine-point declaration, Washington for the US Pacific partnership, building US capacity in the region, coordinating with allies and partners on climate, economy, security and maritime cooperation, cyber security and connectivity, COVID and health security, and addressing the legacy of conflicts.
Washington’s recognition that a lack of regional focus has allowed China to fill the void has prompted it to work with regional partners. Along with Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the UK, the US launched the Partners in the Blue Pacific initiative to support the Pacific island region “according to the principles of Pacific regionalism, sovereignty, transparency, accountability, and above all, leadership and direction.” By the Pacific Islands.” As an observer in this grouping, India has a high stake in the development of the region.
New Delhi launched FIPIC with 14 Pacific Island countries in 2014 during Modi’s visit to Fiji. Since then, India has tried to continue regular high-level dialogue. Despite Biden’s trip being cancelled, his plan to visit PNG when Modi is there sends a clear message: the US-India partnership is no longer shy about entering new territories, and both are an effective alternative to the Chinese push committed to provide. in the Pacific. The US must ensure that its domestic problems do not distract it from assuring its allies and partners of its long-term strategic intent.
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