A high-level New Caledonian delegation has flown to Paris at the invitation of the French prime minister Jean Castex as the third and last independence referendum looms under the terms of the Noumea Accord.
However, the pro-independence UNI faction is boycotting the week-long talks, saying the 44-page French outline about the consequences of the referendum was delivered too late.
The document is yet to be made public, but is expected to be central to the series of meetings planned in Paris.
Five pro-independence politicians, who are members of the pro-independent Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), in the 11-member executive have resigned. Photo: AFP
The French overseas minister Sebastien Lecornu has said unprecedented questions lay ahead and there was an urgent need to establish what the outcome of the referendum would mean.
A date for the vote has to be set, with the anti-independence side pushing for it to go ahead this year while the rival pro-independence camp lobbying for a date as close as possible to the cut-off of October 2022.
New patrol boats promised
The French defence ministry says New Caledonia will receive two new patrol boats by 2023.
The ministry says the vessels will be named after two New Caledonians who fought alongside Charles de Gaulle to free France in the Second World War.
The Jean Tranape and the Auguste Benebig will replace, among others, the La Glorieuse, which has been in operation since 1987.
The ships will be used to protect national interests within France's exclusive economic zones, such as monitor fishing, intervene in case of pollution and curb illegal migration.
A total of six such vessels have been ordered, with the other four to be deployed in French Polynesia and La Reunion.
