Fiji, July 14 -- Solomon Islands National University (SINU) Vice Chancellor Dr Transform Aqorau has questioned whether the Pacific can maintain its vision of becoming an Ocean of Peace while the region is increasingly shaped by strategic competition and expanding security partnerships.

Dr Aqorau said the Pacific is at "an important crossroads" as major powers expand their diplomatic presence, development assistance, security agreements and military cooperation across the region.

He said Pacific leaders have consistently advanced a different vision through regional declarations that seek to define the Pacific "not as an arena for strategic competition, but as an Ocean of Peace - a region where cooperation, mutual respect, sustainable dev...