Germany to deploy warship at Indian Ocean

In the wake of China’s effort to earn Geo political dominance in the Indo-Pacific region, Germany has decided to deploy their warship next year at India Ocean, German defense minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has said.

According to her, Germany is considering the possibility of naval presence in the Indo-Pacific by deploying their warship in the region and it will help safeguard the rules-based world order. “We believe that Germany needs to mark its position in the region,” she said in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald.

“We hope to be able to deploy next year,” she said. “We will be spending more on defense in 2021 than in 2020 despite the fact that [the Covid-19 pandemic] has hit our budgets. Now the key is to translate this into real muscle,” Kramp-Karrenbauer added.

“Given the rising security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, it is my goal to intensify our bilateral and multilateral collaboration. That could include, for example, the embarkation of German officers on Australian Navy units – a project that is being negotiated as we speak,” she said.

Earlier in the September, Germany had announced its Indo-Pacific strategy with India that is believed to play a crucial role in Berlin’s outreach in the region.

“If conflicts in the region adversely affect security and stability there, this has repercussions for Germany, too,” the statement said.

Kramp-Karrenbauer also said, the Indo-Pacific has turned to be important to the world’s well-being and said Germany couldn’t afford to ignore some of China’s activities. “China is an important trading partner for Germany and we have strong economic ties which are in the interest of both sides,” she said. “At the same time, we do not turn a blind eye on unequal investment conditions, aggressive appropriation of intellectual property, state-subsidized distortion of competition or attempts to exert influence by means of loans and investments.”

Kramp-Karrenbauer was the first German minister to publicly confirm that restrictions on Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei will effectively exclude the company from Germany’s 5G network, a Hindustan Times report said. “Germany is, in principle, open to investment from all sides. But if the technology offered to us is not beyond reproach, it cannot be used,” she said.

“The political ramifications would simply be too grave. China is a country that understands very well the political dimension of IT networks and data flows. I am sure our counterparts in Beijing understand that we Europeans can only operate technology we trust.”

Kramp-Karrenbauer said Germany is also working within NATO to expand relations with like-minded states such as Australia in the Indo-Pacific. “We share the same values, principles and interests. As a consequence, we stand united against those who challenge us,” she said.

“I am convinced territorial disputes, violations of international law and China’s ambitions for global supremacy can only be approached multilaterally.”

She also said China’s recent actions, rather than increasing pressure from the US, had triggered a “rethink across Europe”.

“What will be crucial, regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election, is whether the West can be more unified in its dealings with Beijing,” she said. “We have always had our tiffs across the Atlantic. That won’t change. What’s key is that we get the big stuff right. China is big stuff.”