The Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) between Papua New Guinea and the United States will be tabled in Parliament for debate and ratification, says Minister for Justice and Attorney-General Pila Niningi.
Niningi told Parliament during his ministerial statement that the Department of Justice and Attorney General and the State Solicitor were involved in providing legal advice and cleared the Defence Cooperation Agreement between PNG and the United States of America.
“This Defence Cooperation Agreement was recently concluded and executed.
“It will be tabled in Parliament for debate and ratification,” he said.
He said the Department of Justice and Attorney General and the State Solicitor stand ready to support the Prime Minister, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other Ministries, Government Departments and agencies to implement the agreement.
In May, U.S state secretary Antony Blinken and Defence Minister Win Bakri Daki signed the agreement, which had attracted questions and negative reactions, with students from PNG’s three main universities, protesting against it and calling for more consultation.
In a recent visit, U.S defence secretary Lloyd Austin said his country’s focus was on strengthening peace, stability and prosperity.
He said that the agreement was built upon decades of work, relationships, cooperation and would help the U.S, to do the things that were necessary to help to expand PNG’s capacity, to modernise its force, and to increase the PNG Defence Force’s capabilities.
SOURCE: THE NATIONAL/PACNEWS
