World

Joint US-Indonesia war game to expand to 14 countries – Henry’s Club

April 9, 2022
Bharat Times English News

The army said soldiers from the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Canada will be among the participants in the Garuda Shield 2022 exercise from August 1 to 14. The 16th edition of the War Games will include live-fire drills, specials. Operations and Aviation components among other disciplines.

The extension of the exercise comes at a time of rising tensions in the region, analysts say in a move that indicates Indonesia has moved closer to the US than China in military cooperation.

Last year’s Garuda Shield included two US Army divisions – about 1,000 soldiers – as well as their Indonesian counterparts, which the US military described as the largest version of the game of war to date.

A US military statement ahead of last year’s exercise said, “The two-week Garuda Shield joint exercise strengthens the US-Indonesia key defense partnership and advances cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific region.” ” is.”

Indonesia It was not estimated how many soldiers from each of the 14 countries will participate in this year’s Garuda Shield.

The US military and the US embassy in Jakarta did not immediately comment on the exercise.

South China Sea dispute

sits on the southern coasts of Indonesia South China SeaWhich has been the focus of military activity in the past few years as China militarized disputed islands there and the US and its allies have challenged those claims.
In March, China’s state-run Global Times tabloid accused US Admin John Aquilino, the head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, of attempting to copy. Ukraine crisis In the Asia-Pacific, uniting allies, partners and other countries in the region to confront China.

The Global Times’ remarks came as Aquilino took to reporters to highlight Beijing’s militarization of disputed islands in a flight over the South China Sea.

Analysts say Indonesia has long been trying to avoid taking sides US-China dispute in the South China Sea.
But they note that in the past year Beijing has been vocal In advancing its claims to the Natuna Islands within Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone, but also within China’s “nine-dash line”, under which Beijing claims control of almost the entire South China Sea.
Colonel Frega Venus Inkiriwang, North Jakarta Military District Commander and Indonesian Defense University lecturer, said China’s current behavior The risk of conflict in the region is rising as nations increase their military presence, including Indonesia, which has strengthened its forces around the Natuna Islands.

But don’t expect Jakarta to call Beijing directly, said Colin Koh, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

Indonesia “may avoid megaphone diplomacy and directly confronting … China on South China Sea issues, but it will act in ways that prompt Beijing – and domestic audiences – to defend its national interests.” Desire,” Koh said.

He called the expansion of the Garuda Shield war games “particularly noteworthy” because “Indonesia has always been cautious about signs of sensitivity to South China Sea issues” and its relations with the United States and China.

“Clearly Indonesia wants to engage in the external balance in the South China Sea, while using it as a platform to demonstrate its stature and influence in the context of multilateral defense diplomacy,” Koh said.

Frega noted that Indonesia and China once conducted joint military exercises called “Sharp Knife”, but the last iteration of them was in 2014.

Now, he said, Indonesia is clearly closer to the US than China in terms of military cooperation.

Frega also said that Indonesia has long maintained close military ties with Japan and Australia, so their inclusion in the Garuda Shield 2022 should not be surprising.

But he said, because Japan and Australia, like the US, have been highly critical of China’s actions in the South China Sea, news of August’s exercises could be expected to be “uncomfortably received” in Beijing.