Fiji says it supports the idea of expanding regional security co-operation by revising the Pacific Islands Forum's 2000 Biketawa Declaration drawn up after the coups in Fiji and Solomon Islands.
Fiji Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola Photo: supp
Fiji's defence minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola spoke at the Forum foreign ministers' meeting in Suva ahead of next month's Forum summit in Samoa.
Ratu Inoke said new global trends posed new threats, which should lead to rethinking the concept of security to go beyond defence and law and order.
He said this should be more forward-looking and also encompass a regional approach to disasters.
In his address, Ratu Inoke pointed to current issues, like the tension surrounding North Korea, illegal fishing, human trafficking and the South China Sea dispute between the Philippines and China.
Ratu Inoke also said Forum members should implement international human rights law.
Next month's Forum summit will for the first time include France represented by its territories New Caledonia and French Polynesia.
