The Indian Navy is deploying a naval task team comprising four frontline warships to the South China Sea, Western Pacific, and South East Asia for two months beginning in early August. In the course of their deployment, the warships will take part in the next edition of the ‘Malabar Exercise’ with the navies of Japan, Australia, and the United States.
This will be the second consecutive year when navies of all four member countries of the Quadrilateral will conduct the mega naval drill. China has been suspicious about the objective of the Malabar exercise as it feels that the exercise is an effort to limit its influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
These ships are also slated to conduct bilateral exercises with the navies of Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, and Australia. The ships will participate in bilateral SIMBEX with Singaporean Navy, the “Samudra Shakti” exercise with the Indonesian Navy, and AUS-INDEX with the Australian Navy.
The Malabar exercise started in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between the Indian Navy and the US Navy in the Indian Ocean. Japan came on board and became a permanent member of the exercise in 2015.
