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The
three-day exercise off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island
aimed at increasing interoperability between the ASEAN member
states and the Russian navy in the strategic maritime area. It
comes amid rising tensions between major powers in the South
China Sea, a resource-rich waterway of geopolitical
significance.
"The exercise has a strategic impact because it was designed to
cultivate friendships between the Indonesian government, ASEAN
countries and Russia," the navy said.
The two-stage drills involved eight warships and four aircraft
from Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore
and Brunei.
Aleksei Bolotnikov, commander of the Russian warship Admiral
Panteleyev, was quoted as saying he hoped the next ASEAN-Russia
exercise could take place in Vladivostok.
Russia and the Southeast Asian bloc held their fourth summit
online in October, a meeting timed with the anniversary of
relations between Russia and the 10-member regional grouping.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin urged China last
month to "back off " after three Chinese coast guard vessels
blocked and used a water cannon on resupply boats headed toward
a Philippine-occupied atoll in the South China Sea.
China says the territory falls within its "nine-dash line", a
boundary including almost all the South China Sea that a
tribunal at the Hague in 2016 found lacked legal basis.
(Reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa and Stanley Widianto;
Writing by Kate Lamb; Editing by William Mallard)
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