By Reuters: Germany will, for the first time, send troops to Australia as part of joint drills with some 30,000 service members from 12 other countries, underlining Berlin’s increased focus on the Indo-Pacific amid rising tensions with China in the region.
In recent years, Germany has had a greater military presence in the Indo-Pacific, even as this means walking a tightrope between its security and economic interests.
“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.