New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government is set to invite Australia to the annual Malabar naval exercises next month, with the United States and Japan already confirming their participation. The measure is expected to further establish the basis for the eventual formalization of the QUAD group.
According to people directly familiar with the subject, the Malabar exercises will be carried out in two stages in the Bay of Bengal; The 2019 fiscal year took place from September 26 to October 4 off the coast of Japan. The naval exercise with QUAD partners will take place from November 3 to 6 and November 17 to 20. The shared goal of the four countries is free and open navigation in the Indo-Pacific.
The decision to invite Australia could be announced by the Modi government shortly, the people cited above added on condition of anonymity. A section of the Defense Ministry is deliberating on the impact of the QUAD exercise on the ongoing military diplomatic talks to resolve Ladakh’s confrontation with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). HT learns that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has told the Ministry of Defense that it has no problem with Australia’s involvement.
The exercise follows the QUAD Foreign Ministers meeting in Tokyo on October 6 and will follow shortly after the two-plus-two dialogue between India and the US from October 26 to 27, during which it is expected that the two countries sign the geospatial agreement called BECA. .
The last time Australia was invited as a non-permanent partner by India for Malabar in 2007, Beijing issued an appeal to India, the US, Japan and Australia (Singapore was the other partner) seeking exercise details in the context of the QUAD initiative. which at that time only existed on paper. Both India and Australia were on the defensive back then.
Against the background of the emerging contours of QUAD, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi did not hesitate to express his opinion on the grouping in a question and answer session after his meeting with Malaysian Foreign Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, in Kuala Lumpur on October 13. The US Indo-Pacific strategy is a “great underlying risk” designed to provoke confrontation between different groups and stoke geopolitical competition with the Cold War mentality. The same minister called QUAD a “sea foam” in 2018 in Beijing. While Wang visited Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and Singapore to secure Beijing’s interests in ASEAN on October 11-15, senior diplomat Yang Jiechi has been on tour in Myanmar and Sri Lanka to push the Chinese narrative on the Indo-Pacific and the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the four members of QUAD have signaled their intention to move away from the blocky trope to describe their shared values. Its goal, the countries argue, is to secure sea lanes for open trade and not be constrained by an expansionist Chinese navy. “QUAD is a security architecture between democratic countries, which have military logistics and a communication agreement. It is not an emotion or a Cold War-style alliance, ”said a senior diplomat.
According to a retired Indian Navy Western Naval Command commander, who asked not to be identified, the Malabar exercises are aimed at interoperability with an emphasis on humanitarian assistance, surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, counterterrorism operations, artillery training and aerial surveillance. .
Interestingly, the Malabar 2020 exercises will take place in the Bay of Bengal and near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, on major sea lanes.
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