Ships are docked offshore in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, on November 24, 2018. MARK SCHIEFELBEIN AP SYDNEY WASHINGTON - The Solomon Islands told Pacific nations that they won't sign the summit declaration, according to a note seen by Reuters.
The Biden administration wants to increase influence in the strategically important South Pacific by inviting leaders from the Pacific Island Forum bloc to the two-day White House summit starting Wednesday.
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The Solomon Islands wrote to the Pacific Islands Forum and asked them to tell the other members it wouldn't sign a proposed Declaration on the US-Pacific Partnership, to be discussed at the summit on Sept 29 and needed more time for its parliament to consider the matter, according to the note dated Sunday.
Federated States of Micronesia President David Panuelo said on Tuesday in Washington that countries had been working on a vision statement that would cover five areas, including human-centered development, geopolitics and security of the Pacific region, commerce, industry and trade ties.
Anna Powles, a Pacific security expert at Massey University in New Zealand, said that the declaration was yet to enjoy consensus and that Solomons won't be able to sign the declaration but it doesn't call on others to follow suit.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the White House National Security Council wouldn't say anything.
Panuelo said at an event in Washington hosted by Georgetown University that the Pacific island nations had come to realize the importance of strength in numbers and called for superpowers to talk to them about the issues most important for the region.
Three sources familiar with the call, including a diplomat from a Pacific island state, said that the US side demanded the removal of language agreed to by the island countries that Washington address the Marshall Islands' nuclear issue.