By Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY (Reuters) -&nbsp;Vanuatu&nbsp;Prime Minister Sato Kilman won't attend a&nbsp;Pacific&nbsp;Islands&nbsp;summit&nbsp;with U.S. President Joe&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;next week, an&nbsp;official&nbsp;from his office told Reuters, because all government lawmakers need to be in parliament on Monday for a no-confidence vote.
Biden&nbsp;will host a second&nbsp;summit&nbsp;with leaders of the&nbsp;Pacific&nbsp;Islands&nbsp;Forum at the&nbsp;White&nbsp;House&nbsp;on Monday, Washington time, as part of his efforts to step up engagement with a region where the U.S. is in a battle for influence with China.
The&nbsp;summit&nbsp;with the 18-member forum will take place on Monday and Tuesday in Washington.
Kilman was elected prime minister by lawmakers two weeks ago to replace Ishmael Kalsakau, who lost a no-confidence vote in parliament for actions including signing a security pact with U.S. ally Australia.
On Monday,&nbsp;Vanuatu's parliament will hold another no-confidence vote, with the government seeking to suspend Kalsakau, a parliament&nbsp;official&nbsp;told Reuters.
All government lawmakers need to be in parliament and the trade minister has also been urgently recalled from an international visit, another&nbsp;official&nbsp;said.
"The Prime Minister will not be attending the&nbsp;summit&nbsp;because they have the parliament meeting," said an&nbsp;official&nbsp;from the prime minister's office.
Kilman would not have enough time to travel from&nbsp;Vanuatu&nbsp;to the United States for the Washington meeting.
The United States is seeking to open an embassy in&nbsp;Vanuatu&nbsp;and increase its engagement with the nation which has a "non-aligned" foreign policy.
China is&nbsp;Vanuatu's biggest external creditor, and last month sent police experts to sign a policing agreement.
Kilman has said he would revisit a security pact signed with Australia, a major aid donor, that is yet ratified by parliament, to ensure it was in&nbsp;Vanuatu's national interest.
Kilman did not attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week.&nbsp;Vanuatu&nbsp;has previously had a high profile on climate change activism on behalf of small island states.
In March, the United Nations agreed to support&nbsp;Vanuatu's resolution to ask the world's top court to define the obligations of states to combat climate change, a legal opinion that could drive countries to take stronger measures and clarify international law.
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(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Michael Perry)

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Vanuatu to miss Pacific Islands summit with Biden at White House -official