Pictured: (L-R) France Ambassador Guillaume Lemoine, Acting CDF Philip Polewara, Commander-in-Chief of the French Armed Forces in New Caledonia, Brigadier General Yann Latil, and Secretary of the Department of Defence, Hari John Akipe. (Supplied Image)
To strengthen bilateral relations between Papua New Guinea and France, mainly in the areas of military and security, Commander-in-Chief of the French Armed Forces in New Caledonia, Brigadier General Yann Latil, recently carried out his first official working visit to Port Moresby since his appointment last August.
The French general officer was officially welcomed by a parade at Murray Barracks and then by A/CDF Commodore, Philipp Polewara.
Brigadier General Latil met the Minister for Defence, Dr. Billy Joseph and the Secretary of the Department of Defence, Mr Hari John Akipe.
Together, they had discussions on several fields of cooperation, including humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) that PNG could need in the case of natural disaster, and even the fight against illegal fishing.
The French general officer also met with Foreign Minister, Justin Tkatchenko and Fisheries Minister, Jelta Wong.
Brigadier General Latil expressed that the visits to various components and sites of the PNG Defence Force allowed the General to discuss possible cooperation in order to jointly ensure the security of Papua New Guinea while respecting its sovereignty.
He went to the Naval Base, visited the Air Transport Wing, the 1st Battalion of the Royal Pacific Islands Regiment (1RPIR) at Taurama Barracks, and the Bomana War Ceremony, where he laid a wreath in memory of all the fallen soldiers buried there.
This shows the Defence relations between the two countries have gained new momentum since the signing on 31st October 2022 of an agreement on the status of forces (SoFA) and defence cooperation, an agreement whose ratification is still in progress.
