Vanuatu to miss Pacific Islands summit with Biden at White House -official.

Sato Kilman won’t attend the Pacific Islands meeting that U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is co-hosting the following week, according to a prime minister’s office representative. This decision was made since all government lawmakers must be present in parliament on Monday for a vote of no confidence.

As part of his efforts to build up engagement with a region where the United States and China are engaged in a struggle for influence, Vice President Joe Biden will host a second summit with leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum at the White House on Monday, Washington time. The meeting will take place on Monday.
Washington, DC, will play host to the summit that will include all 18 members of the forum on Monday and Tuesday.

Ishmael Kalsakau, who had been prime minister but had lost a vote of no confidence in parliament for activities that included negotiating a security treaty with a country that was an ally of the United States, was replaced by Kilman, who was elected prime minister by MPs two weeks ago.

A member of the parliament of Vanuatu told Reuters that there will be another vote of no confidence on Monday, with the administration attempting to suspend Kalsakau due to the vote.

According to a statement made by another official, the entire group of government lawmakers is required to be present in parliament, and the minister of trade has also been hastily recalled from a trip abroad.

“The Prime Minister will not be attending the summit because they have the parliament meeting,” an official from the prime minister’s office stated.

There is not enough time for Kilman to fly from Vanuatu to the United States to attend the meeting in Washington.

The United States is interested in establishing diplomatic relations with the island nation of Vanuatu, which has a “non-aligned” foreign policy, and hopes to do so by establishing an embassy there.

Vanuatu’s largest foreign creditor, China, sent a delegation of police officials to sign an agreement over policing just a month ago.

Kilman has stated that he will review a security deal made with Australia, a key assistance contributor that has not yet been recognized by parliament, to guarantee that it is in Vanuatu’s best interest.

Kilman was absent at this week’s United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. In the past, Vanuatu has maintained a prominent role in the fight against climate change on behalf of other tiny island nations.

The United Nations General Assembly reached a consensus in March to back Vanuatu’s resolution to ask the world’s highest court to define states’ responsibility to tackle climate change. Such a legal opinion can persuade nations to take more stringent action and clarify existing international law.