Fiji has used its turn as host of the 2026 South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting to press for deeper regional integration and closer defence cooperation, as Pacific countries face what the government describes as a mix of traditional, non-traditional and hybrid security threats. Minister for Defence and Veteran Affairs Pio Tikoduadua opened the meeting on 21 September, welcoming delegations to a forum he said was being attended for the first time by most of the leaders in the room.
The gathering brings together defence ministers and chiefs from across the South Pacific under the theme “Securing the Blue Pacific: Collective Responsibility, Resilient Futures”, Islands Business reports. The Fiji Sun describes it as a four-day meeting at the Sheraton Fiji Golf & Beach Resort, which places the close on 24 September.
Key facts
- Who: Fiji’s Minister for Defence and Veteran Affairs, Pio Tikoduadua, opened the meeting. The Fiji Sun names Tongan Minister for Armed Forces Crown Prince Tupoutoa Ulukalala among those present, pictured with Tikoduadua at the opening.
- When: Opened 21 September 2026; four days, per the Fiji Sun, running to 24 September.
- Where: The Sheraton Fiji Golf & Beach Resort on Denarau Island, in the greater Nadi area on Viti Levu’s western coast.
- Theme: “Securing the Blue Pacific: Collective Responsibility, Resilient Futures”.
- Last meeting: Held in Chile, according to Islands Business.
- Fiji’s pitch: A ten-year Maritime Security Strategy, a recently completed brigade-level field training exercise, and security-sector reform under a “whole-of-nation” approach to the national security strategy.
- Attendance detail: Tikoduadua said it was the first SPDMM for most of the leaders of delegations attending, in the Islands Business account. Neither outlet publishes a full list of participating countries.
- Sourcing: Two Fiji-based outlets, no independent confirmation from the ministry or organisers at the time of writing.
Nadi or Denarau? Not a contradiction
The two Fiji-based reports appear at first glance to place the opening in different towns: Islands Business datelines it Nadi, while the Fiji Sun puts it at the Sheraton Fiji Golf & Beach Resort. On the ground there is no conflict. The Sheraton sits on Denarau Island, a reclaimed resort enclave joined to Viti Levu by a causeway a short drive from Nadi town and served by Nadi International Airport. Denarau is routinely treated as part of the greater Nadi area, and it is where Fiji stages most of its large international conferences. The difference between the two reports is one of specificity, not of fact.
A second apparent divergence is also cosmetic. Islands Business uses the abbreviation SPDMM, the form the forum itself uses; the Fiji Sun renders it SPADMM and refers to the participants as Pacific defence chiefs rather than ministers. Both are describing the same meeting, and the substance of Tikoduadua’s quoted remarks is consistent across the two accounts.
That consistency is worth stating plainly for what it is. Two local newsrooms reporting the same opening remarks in similar terms is a reasonable basis for the quotes and the theme, but it is not independent verification of the arrangements around them — the four-day duration, for instance, rests on the Fiji Sun alone. A Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs release, an RFMF statement, or coverage from a regional service such as RNZ Pacific or ABC’s Pacific Beat would settle the duration, the attendance list and the agenda. None was available to this newsroom at the time of writing, and this report is flagged accordingly.
What Fiji says it is doing at home
Tikoduadua said Fiji was strengthening its own security policies through a whole-of-nation approach. “In implementing our national security strategy, we continue to reform and modernise our security sector to ensure it remains capable, responsive and prepared to address both current and emerging threats,” he told the meeting, in remarks carried by Islands Business.
He singled out Fiji’s Maritime Security Strategy, which he described as a unified whole-of-government framework for protecting the country’s maritime domain over the next ten years. In the Islands Business account, he said it would help Fiji uphold national sovereignty, protect natural resources and cultural heritage, and strengthen long-term national resilience. Neither outlet attaches a budget, a timeline of milestones or a lead agency to the strategy, and neither quotes him putting an economic value on the maritime domain it covers.
Context, not reported by either outlet: the meeting is being held on Denarau, Fiji’s best-known resort strip, and the maritime space the strategy describes is the same space the country’s fisheries and its arriving visitors move through. That link is this newsroom’s own observation about where a maritime strategy bites in a small island economy, not a point made from the podium or in either report. No official quoted in the two accounts frames the strategy in economic terms.
The minister also disclosed that Fiji had recently completed a brigade-level field training exercise, which both outlets say was designed to improve coordination, interoperability and preparedness across government agencies. Beyond that description, the coverage is thin: neither report names the exercise, gives its dates or location, identifies the agencies or partner militaries involved, or says how many personnel took part. Tikoduadua said defence capabilities must be fully integrated with national response agencies so that action during crises and emergencies is coordinated, and told the meeting that interoperability with Pacific neighbours remains essential for collective responses.
Alongside hardware and training, he put weight on the legal side. The Fiji Sun quotes him saying strong legal and policy frameworks were equally important to guide defence operations and to ensure the protection of personnel — a point Islands Business renders in shorter form as defence capabilities needing the support of appropriate legal and policy frameworks. Whether that signals new Fijian legislation is not addressed in either account.
The regional pitch
Tikoduadua described the meeting as “a trusted and effective forum” that continues to deliver practical outcomes for shared defence and security objectives across the South Pacific, in the Islands Business report, and reaffirmed Fiji as what the Fiji Sun calls a steadfast advocate of the forum.
He said Fiji looked forward to using the meeting to strengthen collaboration with complementary regional mechanisms and partnerships in support of a secure, resilient and prosperous Blue Pacific. Fiji would also keep championing stronger regional integration and cooperation through the forum as Pacific nations work to build a safer and more resilient region, the Fiji Sun has him saying.
The underlying argument in both accounts is the same: that no single Pacific country can meet the current security environment on its own. The theme was, in the words the Fiji Sun quotes, “particularly timely as we face a rapidly evolving security environment, where traditional, non-traditional and hybrid threats increasingly challenge the stability, resilience and prosperity of our Pacific nations”. He did not, in either report, itemise which threats he meant beyond those three categories.
The backdrop
The meeting lands in a year when Fiji’s defence choices have been contested at home. This newsroom has reported the debate in Fiji over how fast to sign security treaties with Australia, and, on the non-traditional side of the ledger, a 98 percent jump in cocaine detections across the region and police operations against an alleged scam compound in Port Moresby. Those are the categories of pressure the forum exists to coordinate against; neither report on the opening records them being named from the podium.
What the reports do not answer
Several things remain open from the opening-day coverage. Neither outlet publishes the agenda for the remaining three days, the full list of participating countries and observers, any decisions, funding commitments or communiqué, the particulars of the brigade-level exercise, or whether the legal and policy frameworks Tikoduadua called for imply new Fijian legislation. This report will be updated if the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs, the Republic of Fiji Military Forces or the meeting’s organisers release those details, or if a third account of the opening becomes available to compare against the two cited here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who opened the 2026 South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting, and when?
Fiji’s Minister for Defence and Veteran Affairs, Pio Tikoduadua, opened the meeting on 21 September 2026. Both Islands Business and the Fiji Sun report that the forum is running under the theme “Securing the Blue Pacific: Collective Responsibility, Resilient Futures”, and Islands Business has Tikoduadua telling delegates it was the first SPDMM for most of the leaders of delegations in the room.
Is the 2026 meeting in Nadi or at Denarau?
Both, in effect. Islands Business places the opening in Nadi and the Fiji Sun places it at the Sheraton Fiji Golf & Beach Resort. That resort sits on Denarau Island, a causeway-linked resort area on the western side of Viti Levu that falls within the greater Nadi district and is served by Nadi International Airport. The two reports differ in how precisely they name the location, not on where the meeting is.
How long does the 2026 SPDMM run for?
The Fiji Sun describes it as a four-day meeting. Counting from the 21 September opening, that places the close on 24 September. Islands Business does not give a duration in its report on the opening, and neither outlet publishes the agenda for the remaining days.
Where was the previous South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting held?
Islands Business reports that the last meeting before this one was held in Chile. Tikoduadua commended member states and observers for the initiatives undertaken since that meeting, saying they had strengthened regionalism, cooperation and collective capacity.
What is Fiji’s Maritime Security Strategy?
Tikoduadua described it as a unified whole-of-government framework for protecting Fiji’s maritime domain over the next ten years. In the Islands Business account, he said it would help Fiji uphold national sovereignty, protect its natural resources and cultural heritage, and strengthen long-term national resilience. Neither outlet publishes a cost, a budget line or an economic figure attached to the strategy.
What did Tikoduadua say about legal frameworks for defence operations?
The Fiji Sun quotes him saying strong legal and policy frameworks were equally important to guide defence operations and to ensure the protection of personnel. Islands Business makes the same point more briefly, saying defence capabilities must be supported by appropriate legal and policy frameworks. Neither outlet reports whether that means new legislation is planned.
What is known about the brigade-level field training exercise Tikoduadua mentioned?
Very little beyond the description itself. Both outlets report that Fiji recently completed a brigade-level field training exercise aimed at improving coordination, interoperability and preparedness across government agencies. Neither names the exercise, gives its dates or location, lists the agencies or partner militaries involved, or states how many personnel took part.
How well corroborated is this account of the opening?
It rests on two Fiji-based publications, Islands Business and the Fiji Sun, whose reports of Tikoduadua’s remarks agree on substance. This newsroom has not independently confirmed the theme, the four-day duration or the attendance with the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs, the Republic of Fiji Military Forces or the meeting’s organisers, and had no wire or regional-service report to compare against at the time of writing.
