Joint US-Indonesia war games to expand to 14 nations as tensions simmer in Indo-Pacific – CNN
Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN)The Indonesian and United States militaries are expanding their annual bilateral exercises to 14 participating countries, the Indonesian Army said in a news release Thursday.Troops from the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Canada will be among those joining the Garuda Shield 2022 exercises from August 1 to 14, the army said. The 16th edition of the war games will include live-fire exercises, special operations and aviation components among other disciplines, it added.The expansion of the exercises comes at a time of simmering tension in the region, with analysts saying the move signals Indonesia has moved closer to the US than China in military cooperation.Last year’s Garuda Shield involved two US Army divisions — about 1,000 soldiers — as well as their Indonesian counterparts in what the US Army said was the largest edition of the war games to date.”The two-week Garuda Shield joint-exercise continues to solidify the U.S. — Indonesia Major Defense Partnership and advances cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” a US Army statement said in advance of last year’s exercises.Indonesia did not give an estimation of how many troops from each of the 14 countries would participate in this year’s Garuda Shield.
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