Papua New Guinea's Foreign Minister says while his country is keen to forge new global partnerships, existing partnerships like those with Australia and New Zealand must remain.
Rimbink Pato was speaking after attending meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Suva.
Leaders from eight Pacific countries met with China and India at talks hosted by Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama who is pushing for changes to regional architecture, such as removing Australia and New Zealand from the Pacific Islands Forum.
Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato. Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades
Mr Pato says PNG is happy to work with everyone.
"Well from PNG's point of view, we will not do away with the traditional partners, Australia and New Zealand, in terms of development issues in our region. But that is not to say that we will also not take advantage of new opportunities or linkages that bring about addressing some of the challenges that we face."
Rimbink Pato
