Context
In a latest development, the United States and its allies have launched a new initiative called ‘Partners in the Blue Pacific’ for “effective and efficient cooperation” with the region’s small island nations.
What is Partners in the Blue Pacific (PBP) initiative?
- The PBP is a five-nation “informal mechanism” to support Pacific islands and to boost diplomatic, economic ties in the region.
- The initiative includes the US and its allies- Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the United Kingdom.
- It speaks of enhancing “prosperity, resilience, and security” in the Pacific through closer cooperation.
- It simply means that through the PBP, these countries — together and individually — will direct more resources here to counter China’s aggressive outreach.
- The initiative members have also declared that they will “elevate Pacific regionalism”, and forge stronger ties with the Pacific Islands Forum.
- The areas where PBP aims to enhance cooperation include:
- Climate crisis
- Connectivity and transportation
- Maritime security and protection
- Health
- Prosperity
- Education
The region
- The Indo-Pacific, on the other hand, is an integrated theatre that combines the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, and the land masses that surround them.
- The Pacific Islands region is home to nearly a fifth of the Earth’s surface.
Important initiatives launched to counter China
- The US and its partners started the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), a trade-boosting play in the region with 13 nations — Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Fiji and Vietnam — as partners.
- The G7 announced a plan — Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) — to rival China’s Belt and Road Initiative by promising to raise $600 billion to fund development projects in low and middle-income countries.
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