High-voltage Malabar exercise set begin off Sydney next week

New Delhi: The high-voltage Malabar exercise featuring the navies of all four Quad countries — India, the US, Australia, and Japan — is set to take place off Sydney from August 11 to 21, sources in the defence and military establishment said on Wednesday.

The annual wargame will include both sea and harbour phases with the focus expected to be on expanding overall maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific that has been witnessing growing military muscle flexing by China, they said.

The Indian Navy is likely to send two frontline warships for the mega exercise.

The exercise will feature a number of complex drills involving several frontline warships and other assets of the four navies, the sources said.

China has been suspicious about the purpose of the Malabar exercise as it feels that the annual war game is an effort to contain its influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Following India’s invitation, Australia participated in the Malabar exercise in 2020, effectively making it a drill by all four member nations of the Quad or Quadrilateral coalition.

Australia participated in subsequent exercises as well.

The Malabar exercise started in 1992 as a bilateral drill between the Indian Navy and the US Navy in the Indian Ocean. Japan became a permanent member of the exercise in 2015.

This annual exercise was conducted off the coast of Guam in 2018 and off the coast of Japan in 2019.

In 2020, the exercise was hosted in two phases in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.

In 2021, the mega wargame took place off the coast of Guam in the Western Pacific.

Last year, it was hosted by Japan off Yokosuka island near the East China Sea.

There have been mounting global concerns over China’s growing military assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.

India, the US, Australia, Japan and many other like-minded countries are working towards ensuring a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.

The bilateral defence and strategic ties between India and Australia are on an upward trajectory in the last few years.

In June 2020, India and Australia elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership and signed a landmark deal for reciprocal access to military bases for logistics support.

The Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) allows the militaries of the two countries to use each other’s bases for repair and replenishment of supplies, besides facilitating scaling up of overall defence cooperation.

PTI