Germany, Indonesia agree to strengthen defence ties

Germany and Indonesia agreed on Monday to strengthen their defence cooperation and plan a joint military exercise with other countries in the region.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius discussed the growing ties in a meeting with his Indonesian counterpart, Prabowo Subianto, in Jakarta.

“We talked about the possibility of having a deal about some submarines. We were talking about the two minesweepers, which are already on the way to Indonesia,” Pistorius said.

Germany and Indonesia are also planning a joint military exercise with other regional partners, but no details have been disclosed.

Both ministers attended the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Asia's annual defence and security forum, where US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday criticised China's ''bullying or coercion” in the Indo-Pacific region, including tensions over Taiwan and the South China Sea.

China's Defence Minister Gen. Li Shangfu said at the conference that the US has been “deceiving and exploiting” Asia-Pacific nations to advance its own self-interests to preserve “its dominant position”.