NEW DELHI: The top-notch Malabar naval exercise of India, US, Japan and Australia will kick off in the Bay of Bengal Tuesday, amid China’s continuing muscle-flexing in South China Sea and expanding strategic footprint in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
The 28th edition of Malabar exercise being hosted by India will be conducted off Visakhapatnam from Oct 8 to 18 to enhance interoperability, foster understanding and address shared maritime challenges in IOR and Indo-Pacific region, Navy said Saturday.
The Quad leaders’ summit in Washington last month had declared that the four countries as “leading maritime democracies in the Indo-Pacific” would be a force for the good in the region, where “no country dominates and no country is dominated”.
The Malabar exercise began as a bilateral endeavour between India and US in 1992 but now includes Japan and Australia as participants. In the upcoming exercise, India will deploy a Delhi-class destroyer, a Shivalik-class frigate, a Kamorta-class anti-submarine corvette, along with MiG-29K fighters.