Biden to become first sitting US president to travel to Papua New Guinea

President Joe Biden will journey to Papua New Guinea throughout a visit to the Indo-Pacific area this month, the White Home introduced Tuesday, marking the primary go to of a sitting US president to the Pacific nation.

The go to will happen between stops in Japan and Australia, in line with White Home press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who known as the partnership between the US and Pacific Island nations “crucial.”

Jean-Pierre touted “deep historic and people-to-people ties” between the US and Pacific Island nations.

Biden will meet with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape and different Pacific Island Discussion board leaders, Jean-Pierre stated.

She continued, “The leaders will focus on methods to deepen cooperation on challenges crucial to the area and to america resembling combating local weather change, defending maritime assets, and advancing resilient and inclusive financial progress.”

The Papua New Guinea journey comes because the US is in search of to strengthen partnerships within the area as a counter to China’s rising affect. The Biden administration has labored to deepen its engagement with Pacific Island nations, together with the bulletins of latest embassies within the Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Vanuatu.

Biden is ready to attend the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Might 19-21, and can later attend the Quad Leaders’ Summit in Sydney, Australia, on Might 24, the place he might be joined by heads of state from Australia, Japan and India.