[Source: Reuters]

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a defence cooperation pact signed with Papua New Guinea on Monday would expand the Pacific island nation’s capabilities and make it easier for the U.S. military to train with its forces.

Blinken and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held separate meetings with 14 Pacific island leaders in the PNG capital Port Moresby, pledging support for the region’s priorities of health, development and climate change.

The United States and its allies are seeking to deter Pacific island nations from forming security ties with China, a rising concern amid tension over Taiwan, and after Beijing signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands.

Pacific island leaders, whose territories span 40 million square km (15 million square miles) of ocean, have said rising sea levels caused by climate change are their most pressing security priority.

Blinken told PNG Prime Minister James Marape that Washington would deepen its partnership across the board with PNG, and that he expected partnerships with U.S. businesses would bring tens of billions of dollars worth of new investment.

After university students protested against the defence agreement on Monday, Marape told a joint news conference with Blinken “there is nothing for us to be fearful about”.

The accord updated an existing U.S. military relationship, he said, and “has nothing to do with China”.

Marape said on Sunday the defence agreement would see an increase in the U.S. military presence over the next decade, while the U.S. State Department said it would bolster regional security.

It will expand PNG’s defence capacity to enhance humanitarian assistance and disaster response, and make it easy for U.S. and PNG forces to train together, Blinken said.

In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China had no objection to mutually beneficial cooperation with Pacific island countries such as PNG, but added: “What we need to be vigilant about is engaging in geopolitical games in the name of cooperation, and we also believe that no cooperation should target any third parties.”