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Indonesia hosts great-power rivals China, US in rare joint naval exercises
- The Komodo naval drills bring together 49 countries including sworn geopolitical rivals such as North and South Korea, and India and Pakistan
- Experts say Indonesia is quietly filling the role of neutral go-between for a region scored by competing claims to seas and territories
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American, Chinese and Russian navy ships are due to join exercises in Indonesian waters on Monday to drill responses to humanitarian disasters, in a rare moment of cooperation during a rancorous period of diplomacy and heightened defence competition across the Asia-Pacific.
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Indonesia, which deftly handled last year’s G20 meeting in Bali in the shadow of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is playing host to the Komodo naval exercises in the Makassar Strait until Thursday.
The event comes days after the Shangri-La Dialogue defence summit in Singapore ended in a new bout of mudslinging between Chinese and US defence chiefs with the status of Taiwan the focal point.
Held in waters between Borneo and Sulawesi, the exercise brings together 49 countries including sworn geopolitical rivals – such as North and South Korea, and India and Pakistan – as experts say Asean chair Indonesia quietly fills the role of neutral broker in a region scored by competing claims to seas and territories.
“These interactions tend to focus more on engagement but the geopolitical realities are there for all to see,” said Prashanth Parameswaran, a fellow at the US-based Wilson Centre think tank.
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