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ASEAN starts its own military exercises to prove its centrality
It is evident that ASEAN is more concerned with the big power rivalry in its region than with China’s assertiveness.
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Touchdown: A Dauphin AS 365N3+ helicopter belonging to the Indonesian Navy touches down on the deck of warship KRI I Gusti Ngurah Rai-332 during the 2023 Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo (MNEK) in the Makassar Strait, South Sulawesi, on June 8, 2023. (Antara/M Risyal Hidayat)
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SEAN is in the vortex of renewed maritime activity. After some bickering with China over the South China Sea, the bloc is now the subject of interest by friendly navies in the region.
While ASEAN remains cautious about AUKUS and is analyzing the Quad approach toward the grouping, its members are not hesitating to work with non-Chinese partners in maritime exercises.
The June 6 trilateral coast guard exercises that the Philippines held with Japan and the United States, two members of the Quad, were unprecedented.
Earlier this month, with heightened tension between China and the US visible at the Shangri-La Dialogue, ASEAN’s fears about being caught in the big power rivalry were not assuaged. It prefers an inclusive multinational approach.
This, however, cannot be done at the ASEAN level because of differing positions. As the Philippines went along with two Quad partners, Indonesia held its fourth Komodo multilateral naval exercise (MNEK) in the seas around Makassar in South Sulawesi.
About 2,500 military personnel from 36 countries joined Indonesia for the Komodo exercise, which has been organized since 2014. This year’s edition is the first post-pandemic, involving 25 naval vessels, including those from Quad countries Australia, India and the US. Italy, China, Russia and Pakistan also participated, so did five other ASEAN countries, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The largest contingent was naturally from the Indonesian Navy. Its eight warships were joined by three from Russia and two each from Singapore, Malaysia and China. One ship each was deployed by India, Australia, Italy, the Philippines, Thailand, the US, Vietnam and Pakistan. Naval air assets were deployed by the US, Russia and the Philippines, besides 10 aircraft deployed by the host country.
