Germany sends troops to Australia in a first as Berlin shifts focus to Indo-Pacific

Germany will send troops to Australia for the first time as part of joint exercises with 30,000 military personnel from 12 other countries, highlighting Berlin’s greater attention to the Indo-Pacific in light of the region’s escalating concerns with China. Germany has increased its military engagement in the Indo-Pacific region recently, balancing its security and commercial goals while doing so. “It is a region of extremely high importance for us in Germany as well as for the European Union due to the economic interdependencies”, Army Chief Alfons Mais told Reuters in an interview published on Monday, hours before the first German troops were to leave for Australia. Berlin’s top economic partner is China, and 40% of all European exports pass through the South China Sea, which is the epicentre of the Indo-Pacific region’s territorial conflicts. The first German warship to enter the South China Sea in nearly 20 years sailed there in 2021. The largest deployment of the air force during peacetime was 13 military aircraft that Berlin dispatched to joint drills in Australia last year. The Talisman Sabre exercise, the largest of the bi-annual drills between Australia and the US, will take place from July 22 to August 4. According to Mais, up to 240 German soldiers, including 170 paratroopers and 40 marines, would participate. Along with soldiers from Indonesia, Japan, and other nations, the Germans will train in jungle combat and landing operations. “We aim to demonstrate that we are reliable and capable partners that contribute to stabilizing the rules-based order in the region”, Mais said. When asked what message the first deployment of German troops to Australia was meant to send to China, he underscored Berlin did not aim to antagonize anybody. “It generally makes sense to get to know the perspective others have upon the world”, said the lieutenant general, adding that the current security challenges were much less clear-cut than before 1990. “The Cold War was easy, it was a bi-polar world. Today, we can no longer focus on Europe only…we have to position ourselves much more broadly,” the army chief underscored. Mais plans to visit the German troops in Australia and a Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE) plant assembling Boxer armoured transport vehicles for both armies in mid-July, before travelling on to Japan and Singapore. “Japan is a partner that holds a lot of potential for a deepening of our bilateral military cooperation,” he said. As for Talisman Sabre, the German troops already have orders to return to Australia for the next exercise in 2025. (With agency inputs)