The United States announced hosting the first-ever US-Pacific Island Country Summit in the last week of this month amid the growing influence of China in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Summit will be held in Washington from 28th to 29th September The US President Joe Biden will host the Summit. The Summit will demonstrate the United States deep and enduring partnership with Pacific Island countries and the Pacific region that is underpinned by shared history, values, and people-to-people ties.
Notably, the announcement came a week after the United States accused Beijing of expanding its nuclear arsenal and claimed the extreme buildup process could harm the stability of the Indo-Pacific region. Addressing a press conference in Indonesia last week, US Indo-Pacific Commander, Admiral John Aquilino said China is the only country that is expanding its nuclear arsenal and it had 300 nuclear silos going in.