Japan to participate in Indonesia military exercises

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says Japan’s Self-Defence Forces would participate for the first time, alongside United States and Australia, in the Garuda Shield joint military exercises to be held in Indonesia from August 1st.

Kishida made the statement on Wednesday after talks with Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

The United States says the annual exercises, typically between Indonesia and the US, will be “significantly larger in scope and scale” than previous years.

Japan’s involvement comes as Washington and its regional allies step up efforts to counter China’s growing might in the Indo-Pacific region.

Bilateral Cooperation

The two leaders also agreed to cooperate more closely on energy and infrastructure.

Kishida said Japan would loan the Indonesian government 43.6 billion yen ($318 million) for infrastructure projects and disaster prevention.

Indonesia was Japan’s 14th largest export market in 2020, at $9.2 billion, according to IMF data compiled by Refinitiv.

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Indonesian imports into Japan totalled $14.5 billion that year, making it Japan’s 12th largest source of imports.

The Indonesian president visited China on Tuesday for talks with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing.

The leaders pledged to scale up trade and expand cooperation in areas such as agriculture and food security.

Zainab Sa’id