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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will host the Partners in the Blue Pacific (PBP) countries on Thursday with the aim of better coordinating assistance to the region in the face of competition from China, a White House official said.

The group was formed in June and includes the United States, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. read more India has an observer status with the PBP, White House Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said in remarks at an event in New York. A few other countries would join too, he said.

Campbell said circumstances for the Pacific islands countries were "much more dire" than in the past.

"Their livelihoods are threatened," he said, pointing to the "existential" threat they face from climate change and the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism revenue and business.

"Much of the assistance in the Pacific is not as well coordinated as it could be. We have not learned as much about best practices. We're going to seek to do that as we go forward, building on the existing institutions and engagements of the Pacific."

Some different countries would be doing more in the Pacific diplomatically "in terms of business prospects and aid and assistance," Campbell added.

He said there was an "undeniable strategic component" to the stepped up engagement.

"We've seen in the last several years a more ambitious China that seeks to develop footprints militarily and the like in the Indo Pacific ... that has caused some anxiety with partners like Australia and New Zealand, even countries in the region as a whole."

The Blue Pacific event, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, will come ahead of a Sept. 28-29 summit U.S. President Joe Biden plans to host with Pacific island leaders, which Campbell said reflected "a desire to demonstrate clearly our larger commitment to the Pacific going forward."

He said Washington did not want to see the region descend into "zero-sum" competition and he looked forward to conversations with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and his delegation.

"We are going to step up our game with respect to supporting a variety of initiatives across the Pacific that will positively affect the Solomons as well," he said. "But we've also been clear about what our concerns are and we would not want to see ... a capacity for long-range power projection."

U.S.-China competition for influence in the Pacific islands has intensified this year after China signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands, prompting warnings of a militarization of the region. 

Pacific island leaders said this month Washington should accept their priorities, making climate change - not superpower competition - the most urgent security task. (Reuters)

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov urged his country on Monday to have trust in its army and strategic partners, and said there was no need for volunteer forces at the border with Tajikistan after deadly clashes there last week.

At least 100 people were killed between Sept. 14 and 16 in fighting involving the use of tanks, aviation and rocket artillery on a disputed section of the border in Kyrgyzstan's Batken province.

"We continue our efforts to resolve the Kyrgyz-Tajik border issues in a purely peaceful way," Japarov said in a televised address on a national day of mourning.

"Another point I would like to mention: I urge calm among the men and youths who are willing to go to Batken ... We have courageous warriors and enough forces to repel those who violate our borders."

Japarov also asked Kyrgyz not to trust "provocateurs who slander our strategic partners, friendly nations and peoples who share our position".

Separately, Russian news agencies reported that both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have agreed to pull out additional military hardware and forces from the border, citing a statement from the head of the Sogdiyskaya region of Tajikistan.

Both sides have also agreed to continue to resolve the border conflict.

Kyrgyz authorities also said they had negotiated on Monday for the release of four border guards who had been captured by Tajik troops during the conflict.

Tajikistan's foreign ministry said on Monday the key to resolving the conflict lay in negotiations, and it reiterated its position that Kyrgyzstan had instigated the fighting.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sodik Emomi told a briefing that ethnic Tajiks who were not Tajik citizens were being detained in Kyrgyzstan and that Kyrgyz drones had been spotted flying into Tajik territory overnight.

Central Asian border issues largely stem from the Soviet era, when Moscow tried to divide the region between groups whose settlements were often located amid those of other ethnicities.

Emomi said there have been more than 230 border incidents between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan over the last 20 years, and that the focus of the latest conflict was an area covering 2,000 square kilometres (772 square miles).

Former Soviet republics Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are both allied to Moscow and host Russian military bases. Russia has avoided taking sides in the conflict and urged the sides to resolve it peacefully. (Reuters)

India said on Tuesday it had begun talks with Sri Lanka on restructuring its debt and promised to support the crisis-hit neighbour mainly through long-term investments after providing nearly $4 billion of financial aid.

Sri Lanka, a tourism-dependent South Asian country of 22 million, is struggling with its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades, which has led to shortages of essentials and the ouster of a president.

The country earlier this month reached a preliminary deal with the International Monetary Fund for a loan of about $2.9 billion contingent on it receiving financing assurances from official creditors and negotiations with private creditors.

The High Commission of India in Colombo said it held the first round of debt talks with Sri Lankan officials on Sept. 16.

"The discussions held in a cordial atmosphere symbolise India's support to early conclusion and approval of a suitable IMF programme for Sri Lanka," the High Commission said.

Sri Lanka will make a presentation to its international creditors on Friday, laying out the full extent of its economic troubles and plans for a debt restructuring.

The Indian High Commission also said New Delhi would continue to support Colombo "in all possible ways, in particular by promoting long-term investments from India in key economic sectors".

India's support to Sri Lanka this year has included a $400 million currency swap, a $1 billion credit line for essential goods and a $500 million line for fuel. In addition, India has also deferred payment on Sri Lankan imports of about $1.2 billion and given a credit line of $55 million for fertiliser imports.

Reuters reported last week, citing sources, that India did not plan to provide fresh financial support to Sri Lanka, as the island's battered economy had begun to stabilise.

The High Commission said India had ongoing development projects worth about $3.5 billion in Sri Lanka, whose president earlier this month asked his officials to resolve obstacles to projects backed by India. He did not specify the obstacles or the projects.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said Sri Lanka will turn a free trade agreement with India into a comprehensive economic and technological partnership. (Reuters)

Southeast Asian nations must decide if they are going to push ahead with a so-far failed five-point peace plan for Myanmar or "decide what's next" before their leaders meet in November, Malaysia's Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said on Monday.

Myanmar has been in crisis since the army ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government in February last year, detaining her and other officials and launching a bloody crackdown on protests and dissent.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member, has been leading peace efforts.

"Between now and the ASEAN summit in November ASEAN must seriously review if the five-point consensus is still relevant, and if it should be replaced with something better," Abdullah said. "By the time we meet in November, we must ask that hard question and we must have the answer during that time."

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders for the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Abdullah also said he hoped the 15-member U.N. Security Council would not fail the people of Myanmar.

The U.N. Security Council is considering a British-drafted resolution - circulated on Friday - that would demand an end to all violence in Myanmar, urges an immediate end to the transfer of arms to Myanmar and threatens U.N. sanctions.

It would also called on the Myanmar junta to release all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi, implement the ASEAN peace plan and allow a democratic transition.

However, the Security Council has long been split on Myanmar with diplomats saying China and Russia would likely shield the country from any strong action and negotiations on the British draft resolution are likely to take some time.

To be adopted, a Security Council resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by Russia, China, the United States, France or Britain. (Reuters)