PNG soldiers to train in Fiji

A COLLABORATION initiative has been discussed and agreed between the Defence Minister Dr Billy Joseph and his Fijian counterpart Pio Tikoduadua during Second Japan-Pacific Islands Defence Dialogue in Tokyo.
The initiative involves training of PNG Defence Force soldiers at the Black Rock United Nations (UN) training facility in Nadi, Fiji.
This training will prepare PNG soldiers to be engaged for any regional and international security and peacekeeping operations as well as train and prepare to respond to any natural and man-made disasters in the region.
“With the current size and capability of our PNGDF, I have proposed to my Fijian counterpart to train at least 1,000 of our soldiers progressively at Black Rock training facility, which will prepare them to be dispatched for any UN peacekeeping operations as well as to respond to the security challenges in our region,” Joseph said.
Joseph will lead a delegation comprising senior PNGDF officials to visit the Black Rock training facility next week to iron out finer details of the proposed arrangement.
“After we conclude the training arrangements with Fiji, we will be requesting assistance from our bilateral partners like Australia and New Zealand to support this agenda and for them to allocate a quota for PNG to participate as part of its international obligations, which is a function prescribed in Section 202 of our Constitution,” Joseph said.
Fiji has long been a consistent contributor to UN peacekeeping operations, sending more than 300 peacekeepers to global hotspots every year.
Other countries in the Pacific have been far less engaged.