Naval Exercise 2020 consists of India, Japan and the US.
Amid the ongoing clash with China in eastern Ladakh, the Defense Ministry announced on Monday that Australia would join the Naval Exercise Malabar 2020, comprised of India, Japan and the United States, which will take place next month, plus three years after Australia. first requested to join.
Also read: The government considers Australia’s entry into the Malabar naval exercise
“As India seeks to increase cooperation with other countries in the field of maritime security and in light of increased defense cooperation with Australia, Malabar 2020 will see the involvement of the Australian Navy,” the Ministry said in a statement.
The exercise is scheduled to take place at the end of November and the planning conference to finalize the modalities of the exercise is scheduled to take place near the end of October, according to an official source.
This will formally bring the armies of the four countries into the Quad group.
Reaction from Australia
In Canberra, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said that, following an invitation from India, Australia would participate in Exercise Malabar 2020. “It will strengthen the ability of India, Australia, Japan and the United States to work together to defend peace and stability throughout our country. region, ”he said.
Comment | Make the right decision in ‘Malabar’ in Quad
Australian Defense Minister Linda Reynolds said: “High-level military exercises like Malabar are key to enhancing Australia’s maritime capabilities, developing interoperability with our close partners, and demonstrating our collective determination to support an open Indo-Pacific and prosperous”. It showed the “deep trust” between the four major Indo-Pacific democracies and their “shared willingness” to work together in common security interests, he said.
In 2018, the exercise was conducted off the coast of Guam in the Philippine Sea, off the coast of Japan in 2019 and was expected to take place in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea this year. This year the exercise had been planned in a “contactless at sea” format, according to the statement.
Malabar Exercise 2020 participants pledged to improve safety and security in the maritime arena, the ministry said. “They collectively support the free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific and remain committed to a rules-based international order.”
In August, a key meeting at the Defense Ministry discussed the question of inviting Australia and an understanding was reached, but no final decision was made.
Quad meeting in Tokyo
The issue of Australia’s inclusion in Malabar had been discussed at the Quad’s foreign ministers meeting in Tokyo earlier this month.
Also read: Australia’s participation in Malabar exercise is still under discussion, says US official
As reported by The Hindu On June 3, after years of reluctance due to Beijing’s sensitivity, India said it was open to including Australia in Malabar, which began as a bilateral exercise between India and the United States in 1992 and expanded into a trilateral format. with the inclusion of Japan in 2015.
Canberra joined the exercise once in 2007 and got a strong response from Beijing. In 2017, Australia applied for observer status in the exercise. While New Delhi was reluctant to accept Canberra’s request, bilateral cooperation has increased significantly since then.
The exercise has also grown in scope and complexity over the years, further boosted by the signing of three of India’s four key deals with the US and the increase in US defense acquisitions, Japan and the US. The US has been pushing India to include Australia in Malabar.
With India and Japan signing a military logistics agreement in September, New Delhi now has such agreements with the other nations of the Quad. India had signed Maritime Information Exchange Agreements for Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) with Australia and Japan and a similar agreement with the US is under discussion.
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