Pacific Islands nations Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are considering forming defence forces and have discussed the matter with Australia, Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Wednesday.
Security partnerships in the region, where currently only five out of 18 members of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) bloc have a military, have come into focus after China signed a security pact with Solomon Islands last year.
The U.S. responded by signing a defence cooperation agreement with Papua New Guinea in May.
China and Solomon Islands have said their security pact provides for domestic security and policing, rejecting concerns from other PIF members about the risk of militarisation of the region.