Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said on May 30 that he had delayed signing a proposed security treaty with Australia as “certain wordings and provisions” require consultation with domestic processes.
Marape and Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles met on the sidelines of the Korea-Pacific Islands summit in Seoul, South Korea, to discuss the proposed bilateral security treaty.
Marape told Marles that the treaty was still “in progress and required the PNG side to consult our domestic processes and sovereign laws in relation to certain wordings and provisions,” his office stated.
The PNG leader also conveyed his apologies to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for the delay in formalizing the treaty. Both sides were scheduled to conclude negotiations by the end of April….