Malabar exercises will take place in November in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal (Archive)
New Delhi:
In a snub to China amid border tension, India said today that Australia will join Malabar’s high-level naval exercises, making it the full “Quad” or quadrilateral coalition in the mega drill next month, along with the United States and Japan. The Malabar exercises will take place at the end of November in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Australia will return to joint maneuvers after its participation in 2007 that drew criticism from China.
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China has been suspicious of the drill that began in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between India and the United States and then included Japan in 2015. Beijing believes the annual war game is an effort to fight its influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
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The possibility of including Australia in the annual drill had been discussed at the Quad foreign ministers meeting in Tokyo earlier this month. After resisting the idea for years due to views from Beijing, India, given its bitter border confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh in recent months, said it was open to the inclusion of Australia.
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Australia has been interested in joining the drill for years and both Japan and the United States have been pushing for it to be included. In 2007, China reacted drastically when Australia participated in the Malabar naval exercises and therefore India did not repeat the invitation despite Canberra’s wish. Singapore also participated in 2007.
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In a press release today, New Delhi said that “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 participation of the Australian Navy. “.
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This year, the exercise has been planned in a “contactless at sea” format. The participating countries “collectively support the free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific and remain committed to a rules-based international order,” the statement said.
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US Undersecretary of State Stephen Biegun said recently that he viewed the grouping of the United States, India, Japan and Australia as a “NATO-like” bloc to avoid any potential challenge from China. He cited Australia’s possible participation in the Malabar exercise as an example of progress towards a formal defense bloc.
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India is “clearly indicating an intention to invite Australia to participate in the Malabar naval exercises, which will be a major step forward in ensuring freedom of passage and the safety of the seas in the Indo-Pacific,” the senior official said. of the US department said.
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The Quad, formed in 2017 to effectively counter a belligerent China, had met earlier this month and reaffirmed the importance of maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.
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Next month’s naval exercise will be the first time Quad members have been involved at the military level.
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The exercise was carried out off the coast of Guam in the Philippine Sea in 2018 and off the coast of Japan in 2019.
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