14-nation live-fire military drill concludes in Indonesia

Asia-Pacific, News, US August 16, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

More than 5000 military personnel from 14 different countries participated in the 16th annual Super Garuda Shield 2022 military exercises, held in Indonesia’s South Sumatra province.

The 15-day long live-fire military drills started on August 1. Military units from the U.S., UK, Canada, France, India, Malaysia, South Korea, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Australia, Japan, Singapore, and East Timor participated in the live-fire drills and military exercises.

According to the U.S. embassy in Jakarta, the Super Garuda Shield military exercise was aimed to increase the interoperability between the military units of the Indo-Pacific region and to maintain the free and open Indo-Pacific region.

The Commanding General of the U.S. Army Pacific Command General Charles Flynn said that “When we are together like this, we are stronger. Together as a multinational force, Garuda Shield is an important expression of our teamwork, our interoperability and our unity as a group of nations that seeks to have a free and open Indo-Pacific and maintain a rules-based order.”

The Super Garuda Shield exercise 2022 comes at a time when tensions are increasing in the Indo-Pacific region as China is growing its increasingly assertive approach towards the territorial claims of the South China Sea.

China views the grand military exercise as a threat to regional stability and its territorial claims in the South China Sea. China’s state-owned media outlets accused the U.S. of building a NATO-type military alliance in the Indo-Pacific region to hinder China’s diplomatic influence in the region.

^{Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Adm. John C. Aquilino, right, talks to the media as Indonesian Armed Forces Chief Gen. Andika Perkasa, left, and Commander of Indonesian Army Education and Training Command Lt. Gen. Ignatius Yogo Triyono, center, listen during a press conference at Super Garuda Shield 2022 in Baturaja, South Sumatra, Aug. 12, 2022. (Image Credit: AP/Dita Alangkara)}

The U.S. Indo-Pacific commander, Admiral John C. Aquilino held a news conference during the exercises along with Indonesian Armed Forces Chief Gen. Andika Perkasa at the Baturaja Military Training Field in South Sumatra. Admiral Aquilino said that “the destabilizing actions by the People’s Republic of China as it applied to the threatening activities and actions against Taiwan is exactly what we are trying to avoid.”

The 16th installment of the Super Garuda Shield exercise was the largest one since it initially started as an amphibious military drill in 2009. This was the first time that the drill included military units from Australia, Japan, and Singapore.

Although Indonesia hosted large-scale military exercises, it is quite unlikely for the war games to harm China’s ties with Indonesia, as Jakarta continues to balance its relationship between Beijing and Washington. However, in the broader context of China and Indonesia’s territorial disputes in the South China Sea, the amphibious military exercises increase the uncertainty over the future of Sino-Indonesian relations.