More than 5,000 soldiers from Indonesia, the United States and other countries have begun joint combat exercises on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, signalling stronger ties amid growing maritime activity by China in the Indo-Pacific region.The annual military training, known as Garuda Shield, has been taking place since 2009. But this year sees the participation of several other countries, including Australia and Japan, making it the largest ever.The joint exercises, which began on Wednesday, are designed to strengthen interoperability, capability, trust and cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific, the US embassy in Jakarta said in a statement.
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