Thailand kicked off an international military exercise with the biggest US attendance in a decade as Washington seeks to build on ties with a key security partner at a time of rising global geopolitical competition with Beijing.
The Cobra Gold military drill in Thailand, which runs from Feb. 28 to March 10, is the largest joint military exercise in mainland Asia involving 30 countries. It has been running for more than four decades and this year was billed as a return to full-scale drills after the pandemic.
“Cobra Gold helps build interoperability, advances our common interests, and serves as a demonstration of our dedication to our allies and partners in ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” Godec said at the opening ceremony of the war games in Rayong province, east of Bangkok. A greater US presence in the joint war games is seen as a significant development in Washington’s “dance” to balance its values and geopolitical interests with the rise of China, said Paul Chambers, a lecturer at Thailand’s Naresuan University.
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