The warships of the Quad nations, India, the United States, Japan and Australia, began the four-day Phase I of the 24 thNaval exercise juggling in the bay of bengal, with the focus on complex antisubmarine warfare and other combat maneuvers on the high seas.
Phase II of the war games in the Arabian Sea on November 17-20 will be “more powerful,” and the United States is also likely to deploy a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. India can also deploy its lone aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, with its MiG-29K fighters, in addition to P-8I warships, submarines and long-range patrol aircraft already participating in Phase I.
“The strategic show of intent towards China is unambiguous,” said a senior Indian official. The high-voltage exercise comes amid India’s ongoing military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh, which has entered its seventh month.
The new entrant, Australia, last participated in the Malabar in 2007, which had been criticized by China as a movement of “an axis of democracies” designed to “counter and contain” it in the Indo-Pacific.
Australia backed down quickly. India also restricted the Malabar to a bilateral exercise with the US for several years until Japan became a regular participant starting in 2015.
Thirteen years later, China now has the largest Navy in the world, surpassing even the US in number of warships, if not technology, and has begun to aggressively flex its muscles of the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean region (IOR).
The “Quad” countries, like many others like Germany and the UK, are obviously concerned about China’s heavy-handed tactics in the region. India, for example, reiterated on Monday that Malabar “will exhibit the high levels of synergy and coordination among friendly navies, which is based on their shared values and their commitment to an open, inclusive Indo-Pacific and a rules-based international order. ”.
On Tuesday, the Australian defense minister Linda Reynolds He said the imperative to cooperate closely with regional defense partners on shared challenges is stronger than ever.
“Participation in sophisticated exercises like Malabar not only highlights strategic trust among members, but also strengthens our collective ability to contribute to regional security,” he added.
China, in a terse reaction to Malabar, hoped that “the actions of the relevant countries will lead to regional peace and stability, and not the other way around.”
India, of course, has also signed reciprocal military logistics pacts with the US, Australia, and Japan since 2016, which will help the three nations keep their warships and aircraft on the IOR.
For Phase I of the Malabar, India has deployed the INS Ranvijay destroyer, stealth frigate INS Shivalik, the offshore patrol vessel INS Sukanya, the fleet support vessel INS Shakti and the submarine INS Sindhuraj.
The United States, Australia, and Japan, in turn, have deployed the guided-missile destroyer USS John S McCain, the long-range frigate HMAS Ballarat, and the destroyer JS Onami, respectively.
“Malabar-2020 will witness complex and advanced naval exercises that include surface, anti-submarine and anti-aircraft warfare operations, cross-deck flights, nautical evolutions and weapons firing exercises,” said an officer.
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