Pacific Islands Forum Leadership Summit outlines transformation of the South Pacific into a strategic arena of geopolitical confrontation

On August 26-30, 2024, the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leadership Summit was held in Nuku'alofa. As a result, the South Pacific island states supported a plan funded by the Australian government to create a multinational regional police program (Pacific Policing Initiative).

The center of the initiative is to be Brisbane, where the Australian Federal Police will train law enforcement officers from the 18 PIF members.

In addition, Australia has committed to funding the establishment of four other "centers of excellence" (in Papua New Guinea, Palau, Tonga, and Fiji), as well as to provide an intergovernmental "response team" to security and natural disasters. The United States government fully supported this decision.