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Expanded Garuda Shield exercise kicks off amid rising tensions in Indo-Pacific
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United States Army soldiers attend a ceremony marking the start of the 15th Garuda Shield joint exercise with the Indonesian Army at the Baturaja military training ground in South Sumatra on Aug. 4, 2021. (Antara/Nova Wahyudi)
T
he two-week Indonesian and the United States joint military exercise Garuda Shield officially began with an opening ceremony in South Sumatra on Wednesday, with a dozen nations participating in or observing for the first time the annual event and amid rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific region.
More than 5,000 military personnel from Indonesia, the US, Australia, Japan and Singapore are participating in this year's exercise, making it the largest since the drill was established in 2007.
Canada, France, India, Malaysia, South Korea, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and the United Kingdom, have joined the exercise as observer nations, according to a statement from the Indonesian Military (TNI).
This year's expanded exercise, dubbed “Super Garuda Shield”, will last until Aug. 14 and involves the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. Past Garuda Shield exercises were mainly held between Indonesia and the US military on a bilateral basis.
TNI commander Gen. Andika Perkasa, along with Gen. Charles A. Flynn, the commander of the US Army Pacific (USARPAC), opened the exercise with a ceremony at the Baturaja military training ground in South Sumatra on Wednesday.
“Super Garuda Shield 2022 is a joint exercise on quite a large scale between Indonesia and partner countries in the Indo-Pacific,” Andika said on Wednesday, as reported by Antara news agency.
Read also: Indonesia, US to hold military exercise amid heightened Indo-Pacific tensions
