Under Berlin’s plan to manage China, German frigate to patrol Indian Ocean

New Delhi, Nov 03: Under its plan to manage China's influence, a German frigate will patrol the Indian Ocean under Berlin's plan to manage Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Germany's Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told The Sydney Morning Herald that a German frigate will patrol the Indian Ocean next year. The country's naval presence in the Indo-Pacific will help safeguard the rules based order, she also said.

"We will be spending more on defence 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.

I am convinced territorial disputes, violations of international law and China's ambitions for global supremacy can only be approached multilaterally," she also said.

This comes at a time when India too has significantly increased its deployment in the Indian Ocean Region. This development is also important in the context of China enhancing aggression along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.

On Monday Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla met German Foreign Minister of State, State Niels Annen. During the meeting they discussed a host of issues that included strengthening of multilateral structures. Shringla who is on a three nation tour that also includes UK arrived in Berlin on Monday from France.