Member states of the West Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) agreed unanimously on Tuesday to let Pakistan become a WPNS observer.

Agreement was reached at a biennial conference of the WPNS held in China's naval port of Qingdao. Pakistan is the fourth observer of the WPNS, after Bangladesh, India and Mexico.

The unanimous vote follows the discussion of Pakistan's application at a workshop held at east China's Nanjing City in January.

The WPNS was established in 1987 with goals to promote cooperation between the navies of its member countries, strengthen mutual understanding and trust, and jointly safeguard regional maritime security. It comprises navies whose countries border the Pacific Ocean region.

An applicant for WPNS observer must be a navy of a state that has significant strategic interests in the Western Pacific region and should have the capacity to engage with WPNS navies and contribute constructively to the symposium.

It takes at least five years for a WPNS observer to become a member, according to the WPNS charter.

The WPNS now has 21 member states, including Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, France, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, United States and Vietnam.

China is one of the WPNS founding members. The Qingdao symposium is the first biennial meeting hosted by China.