Antony Blinken to sign new defence agreement with PNG’s James Marape

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken will sign a new defence co-operation agreement with Papua New Guinea on Monday despite a domestic political backlash.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan attend a bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden and Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as part of the G7 Leaders' Summit in Hiroshima. Picture: Brendan Smialowski/AFP

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken will sign a new defence co-operation agreement with Papua New Guinea on Monday, despite a domestic political backlash warning the deal places PNG “at the epicentre” of a future US-China conflict.

Mr Blinken and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are due to arrive in Port Moresby on Monday for talks with PNG Prime Minister James Marape, and separate summits with Pacific Island leaders.

Mr Modi, the leader of what is now the world’s most populous country, will then depart to Sydney for a major community event on Tuesday night and talks with Anthony Albanese on Wednesday.

Mr Albanese and Mr Modi are set to push for closer trade and investment co-operation, stronger defence ties, and new green technology partnerships.

While in PNG, Mr Modi is tipped to offer fresh economic support to the Pacific nation, and will propose investments in gold bullion, oil refining and pharmaceuticals manufacturing in PNG.

Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape. Picture: Mick Tsikas/Pool/AFP

Mr Blinken will fill in for President Joe Biden in Port Moresby, who was forced to cancel scheduled visits to PNG and Australia due to cliffhanger talks with ­congressional Republicans to avert a national debt crisis.

A draft text of the PNG-US defence co-operation agreement was leaked last week, in a move some analysts believed would compromise the deal.

Amid a social media storm over the proposed text, former PNG prime minister Peter O’Neill said the Marape government had “positioned our country at the epicentre of a military storm between China and the US … without appreciating the consequences of such defence alliances to our sovereignty and to regional and global peace”.

“The community has spoken loudly and there are grave concerns regarding the signing of a secret defence co-operation agreement with the United States,” Mr O’Neill said.

But former PNG foreign minister Justin Tkatchenko, who was recently stood aside over a social media scandal involving his daughter, said the agreement protected the country’s sovereignty as a top priority.

“We play a neutral role in the region,” he told The Australian.

“We want to work with our traditional security partners. We’re not going to jeopardise other relations. China knows clearly where we stand on this.”

Australia’s Pacific Minister Pat Conroy will represent the ­Albanese government at Mr Blinken’s meeting with Pacific leaders – the first dialogue of its kind to be held in the region.

He said Australia welcomed greater US engagement in the ­Pacific in support of regional priorities and institutions.

“I look forward to meeting with Pacific leaders on the sidelines of the dialogue and re‑emphasising Australia’s commit­ment to the prosperity and stability of our region,” Mr Conroy said. He would also work with PNG aged-care workers during the trip ahead of their deployment to Australia under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme, he said.

Australia’s Indian community are keenly anticipating Mr Modi’s visit, with the Prime Minister’s planned community event at Sydney’s Olympic Park already booked out.

Former Labor senator Lisa Singh, University of Melbourne’s Australia India Institute chief executive, told The Indian Express Mr Modi’s second visit to Australia coincided with “a new chapter” in Australia-India relations. While the countries’ ties were previously marked by “misperception, lack of trust, neglect, missed opportunities and even hostility”, Australia and India had built a new partnership based on “a near-complete con­vergence of values and interests”.