Australia and Fiji marked an “important milestone in the defense relationship” by signing a “Status of Forces Agreement” on Thursday, allowing them to deploy forces in each other’s territories at times of need.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles held wide-ranging talks with his Fijian counterpart Inia Seruiratu prior to the signing.
Describing it as a “new height of security cooperation,” Seruiratu urged Pacific nations to stand united to counter the geopolitical challenges in the region.
Earlier in the day, South Pacific defense ministers agreed to develop the Australian-funded Blackrock military camp in Fiji into a regional center for disaster response, establishing Exercise LONGREACH as a regional HADR tabletop exercise.
Australia has been seeking closer defense ties with three South Pacific nations — Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Tonga.
The closer defense cooperation among Pacific nations with Australia came during the two-day meeting of South Pacific defense ministers on October 18-19, which was also attended by the US, UK, and Japan as observers.
The Tongan government issued a statement following the meet, which was also attended by the defense ministers of Papua New Guinea, Fiji, New Zealand, France, Chile, Australia and Tonga.
Tonga's Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni told participants that geopolitical complexities and multifaceted non-traditional security threats demand enduring cooperation for present and future generations.
“Traditional and non-traditional threats, including grey zone tactics, transnational and cyber-crime, will continue to test our resilience and our ability and proficiency to be adaptable is critical,” he said.
The US has expedited its engagement with Pacific nations since June, opening up more diplomatic offices and funding climate change measures.