The region-wide plan involves the establishment of four training centres across the Pacific with a hub in Brisbane.
Pacific Islands states have backed an Australian-funded regional policing plan to improve training and create a multinational crisis reaction force.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said leaders endorsed the 400 million Australian dollars ($271m) proposal at their summit in Tonga on Wednesday.
Under the plan, four training centres will be established across the Pacific with a separate hub in the Australian city of Brisbane. The initiative will also create a multi-country policing force of about 200 officers to be deployed to countries in the region in the event of major events or crises.
“This demonstrates how Pacific leaders are working together to shape the future that we want to see,” said Albanese, hailing the agreement at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). He was flanked by the leaders of Fiji, Palau, Papua New Guinea and Tonga in a symbolic show of unity in a region where rivalry between China and the United States has been increasing.
