JakartaPost/AFP-Apr 12, 2022
The annual military exercises between the Indonesian and United States armies will include more than a dozen countries this year, officials said Sunday, as tensions with China continue to spike in the region. The “Garuda Shield” joint training will see militaries from 14 countries – including the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan – participate in ground drills and beach-landing exercises from August 1-14 in Indonesia’s South Sumatra archipelago and the East of Borneo island, the Indonesian Army said. A US official said an estimated 3,000 soldiers will participate in the event. This year’s expansion of military cooperation signals an increase in defense ties between the US and some Asia Pacific nations, with tensions flaring in the disputed waters. The region abuts up to the flashpoint South China Sea – a vital waterway that Beijing claims almost in its entirety and has been a key point of contention between several Southeast Asian nations and China during annual meetings. Last year’s exercises took place during a months-long standoff that drove China to tell Indonesia to stop drilling for oil and natural gas in maritime territory that both countries regard as their own in the South China Sea. Indonesia says the southern end of the South China Sea is its exclusive economic zone under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and named the area as the North Natuna Sea in 2017. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2022/04/11/14-nations-to-take-part-in-indonesian-us-war-games.html
