Thousands of Indonesian and U.S. troops on Monday (August 1) began a two-week joint military exercise that Washington says aims to promote “regional cooperationamid tensions with China.
At least 4,000 American and Indonesian soldiers are on site and will be joined by Australian, Singaporean and Japanese forces. Japan is participating for the first time in these annual maneuvers, dubbed “Super Garuda Shield“. The exercise is taking place on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the Riau Islands, an Indonesian province made up of scattered islets near Singapore and Malaysia.
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Aims ‘to build trust’
It takes place as Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi begins her Asian tour with a possible stopover in Taiwan, at the risk of further poisoning already strained relations between Beijing and Washington. The United States and its Asian allies have shown growing concern about China’s growing presence in the Pacific. Washington, however, assured that the maneuvers did not target any country, even if they are much larger this year than in previous editions.
“It is really an exercise to build trust, cohesion, mutual understanding, increase capacity and other related issuesGeneral Stephen Smith, commander of the participating US troops, told reporters in Jakarta on Friday. “So this is really a military exercise and not a threat to any party“. The maneuvers are due to last until August 14 and will include exercises for the Army, Navy and Air Force.
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An opening ceremony with all participating nations will be held on Wednesday, an Indonesian official said. Canada, France, India, Malaysia, South Korea, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Great Britain will participate as observers.
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