In his opening remarks, the MSG Chair and Prime Minister of Vanuatu, Hon. Charlot Salwai Tabimasmas, welcomed and thanked his colleague MSG Leaders for availing themselves to participate in the Caucus.
He emphasised that side meetings as such, on the margins of the PIF meetings, provide valuable opportunities to discuss issues of specific interest to the MSG Group, enabling the development of common approaches and positions to take to the PIF.
“Collectively we can prosecute and advance our interests and issues more effectively when we are seated at the PIF table. As we are all aware, PIF is made up of diverse groups of members whose views on issues, that we want to push, are often not the same as ours. Together we are stronger,” he stated.
Referring to the caucus agenda, the Chair said that while many issues will be brought up for discussions at the PIF, some of them are specific to the MSG alone, like New Caledonia for instance, a foundational issue for the MSG.
“No other grouping in the PIF has invested so much time, effort and resources on this issue than the MSG. MSG must continue to be in the driver’s seat on this issue as the effected indigenous people, the non-self-governing peoples of that non-self-governing territory are the KANAKS, and they are members of the MSG,” he stated.
“The Ocean of Peace is an initiative of one of our members, Fiji, and we need to ensure that we all collectively support it at the PIF. The Ocean of Peace concept builds on the Efate Declaration on Mutual Respect, Responsibility, Cooperation, and Amity (The Efate Declaration on Security) that we signed on 24 August 2023. In many respects, the Udaune Declaration on Climate Change that we adopted last year also complements the broad concept captured in the Ocean of Peace initiative,” the Chair commented.
On the Pacific Policing Initiative (PPI), the Chair said that while it is another important initiative that is going to be discussed at the PIF meetings, this collective approach to policing is ironically not a new concept to the MSG.
“We have been pushing for self-help collective policing agreement/arrangements for a long time. Our 2016 MSG Security Strategy contains this, our 2013 MOA to Enhance Police Cooperation calls for this and the 2015 Framework Agreement for the MSG Formed Police Unit tries to operationalize the idea of collective approach to policing.
“I make these points to remind us that we need to make sure that this PPI is framed to fit our purposes and not developed to suit the geo-strategic interests and geo-strategic denial security postures of our big partners,” he said.
As well, the Chair reiterated the importance of the welfare of the interests of Melanesians in West Papua and the other Papuan Provinces in Indonesia, as an ongoing concern for the peoples of the region.
“In this regard, the MSG Leaders Dialogue with the President of Indonesia is a project of great importance that must be pursued,” he added.
The Director General of the MSG Secretariat, Leonard Louma, in his introductory remarks provided further clarification on the agenda items including highlighting some of the salient features and background on the issues.
Given the time constraints, the MSG Chair sought the understanding of the Leaders to amend the provisional agenda so more focus could be spent on the New Caledonia issue, which would entail more time to be given to the FLNKS to provide a comprehensive brief on the New Caledonia dossier to the MSG Leaders.
The Chair suggested that other issues on the provisional agenda could be dealt with in more detail in the next MSG Leaders’ Summit proper.
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