Jakarta, Jun 5 (AP) Germany and Indonesia agreed on Monday to strengthen their defence cooperation and plan a joint military exercise with other countries in the region.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius discussed the growing ties in a meeting with his Indonesian counterpart, Prabowo Subianto, in Jakarta.

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“We talked about the possibility of having a deal about some submarines. We were talking about the two minesweepers, which are already on the way to Indonesia,” Pistorius said.

Germany and Indonesia are also planning a joint military exercise with other regional partners, but no details have been disclosed.

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Both ministers attended the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Asia's annual defence and security forum, where US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday criticised China's "bullying or coercion” in the Indo-Pacific region, including tensions over Taiwan and the South China Sea.

China's Defence Minister Gen. Li Shangfu said at the conference that the US has been “deceiving and exploiting” Asia-Pacific nations to advance its own self-interests to preserve “its dominant position”. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)