VANUATU Prime Minister Jotham Napat is expected to lead a delegation to Canberra this weekend ahead of the planned signing next week of the revised Nakamal Agreement.
The pact has been delayed for months over sovereignty, security and critical infrastructure concerns.
Vanuatu’s Council of Ministers approved an updated version of the strategic, economic and security agreement in May, and Australia has now endorsed it, paving the way for the accord to be signed after a further review held up an earlier planned ceremony.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, and Pacific Minister Pat Conroy initialed the deal in August at Mount Yasur on Tanna with Vanuatu Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Johnny Koanapo, Internal Affairs Minister Andrew Solomon Napuat, and Climate Change Adaptation Minister Ralph Regenvanu.
Napat has said the main sticking point was language he believed could compromise sovereignty.
“A lot of the wording in the Nakamal Agreement undermined our sovereignty,” he told Parliament in May.
He said the two most sensitive issues were security and critical infrastructure, adding that the Council of Ministers was “resolute that Vanuatu cannot sign anything that undermines its sovereignty.”
He has also described the pact as a “win-win” arrangement, while saying Vanuatu’s long-standing policy remains “friends to all and enemies to none.”
The Agreement reportedly allows either side to return to the table if they disagree on certain provisions.
The negotiations have drawn additional attention due to visa issues. ABC News reported that Napat said he would not sign unless Australia agreed to visa-free travel for Vanuatu citizens, something Canberra has never offered to any Pacific Island nation.
Napat later said there would be an agenda item on visa-free travel in the Nakamal Agreement, but said Australia, “would get back to us on that.”
The issue has also fueled hopes in Vanuatu that the country could be restored to Australia’s Pacific Engagement Visa ballot after being dropped from the 2026–27 list.
The removal has prompted questions in Port Vila, particularly given the timing of the wider negotiations.
Australia has long viewed Vanuatu as strategically important because of its location in the Pacific and has been concerned about possible Chinese security influence in the country. Napat, however, told Parliament last month that Vanuatu’s separate Namele Agreement with China is a strategic cooperation arrangement and “has nothing to do with a security pact.”
The revised Agreement now appears close to completion, but whether it delivers movement on visas, as well as a firmer framework for security and economic cooperation, remains to be seen.
