Relationship dossier
Papua New Guinea
Solomon Islands
Relationship assessment
Practical neighbourly cooperation alongside past tensions over the Bougainville conflict
Papua New Guinea toward Solomon Islands
+20Papua New Guinea has engaged Solomon Islands in managing their shared border and maritime boundary. The relationship was strained during the Bougainville conflict, including over Solomon Islands’ role as a refuge for people fleeing the conflict.
Solomon Islands toward Papua New Guinea
+20Solomon Islands has engaged Papua New Guinea in managing their shared border and maritime boundary. During the Bougainville conflict, Solomon Islands received people fleeing the conflict, a policy that contributed to tensions with Papua New Guinea.
Overall relationship
+20The relationship is shaped by practical management of a shared border and maritime boundary, alongside close regional ties. The Bougainville conflict created a substantial period of strain related to cross-border refuge and security, but did not define the full bilateral relationship.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands have managed a close-neighbour relationship with practical cooperation on their shared border and maritime boundary. Relations were strained during Papua New Guinea’s Bougainville conflict, when Solomon Islands became a refuge for people fleeing the conflict. The overall relationship combines ongoing bilateral engagement with a significant period of tension.
Areas of tension
- Papua New Guinea’s Bougainville conflict and the movement of refugees and conflict participants across the Solomon Islands border
Key developments
Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands concluded a maritime boundary agreement.
The Bougainville conflict strained relations, including over the presence in Solomon Islands of people fleeing or associated with the conflict.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of bilateral border and maritime arrangements are unclear.
- The extent of current government cooperation on cross-border security and Bougainville-related issues is uncertain.