In news
Malabar naval exercise to begin next week off the Visakhapatnam coast
About the exercise
- The phase one of the Malabar Naval exercise with Australia, Japan and the U.S.will begin by next week
- This is the first time Australia will be joining the exercise after 2007 and it will bring all four countries of the Quadrilateral grouping together for military games.
- After the request of Australia, India announced that Australian Navy would participate in Malabar exercise-2020
- Phase two of the same exercise is scheduled to be held from November 17 to 20 in the Arabian Sea
- Exercise Malabar began as a bilateral exercise between India and the U.S. in 1992 and became trilateral in 2015 with the addition of Japan.
- Phase one of Malabar will see the participation of U.S. guided missile destroyer USS John S McCain, Australian long range frigate HMAS Ballarat with integral MH-60 helicopter, and Japanese destroyer JS Onami with integral SH-60 helicopter
- The Indian side for Phase one will see participation of destroyer INS Ranvijay, stealth frigate INS Shivalik, off-shore patrol vessel INS Sukanya, fleet support ship INS Shakti and submarine INS Sindhuraj
- Malabar exercise, being conducted as a ‘non-contact, at sea only’ exercise in view of COVID-19 pandemic
Significance
- It will showcase the “high-levels of synergy and coordination between the friendly navies, which is based on their shared values and commitment to an open, inclusive Indo-Pacific and a rules-based international order
Source: The Hindu
