QUAD foreign ministers reaffirm their determination to oppose any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo in the Indo-Pacific, and the powerful navies of the ever-strengthening grouping of democratic nations will hold the Malabar exercise off the coast of Yokosuka, Japan. from November 8 to 18 this year. The US Navy is based in Yokosuka and is currently the home port of Carrier Strike Group 5 led by the USS Ronald Reagan.
It is understood that the Indian Navy will send a stealthy Shivalik-class frigate and a Kamorta-class anti-submarine warfare corvette along with a Boeing P8I anti-submarine warfare aircraft and a force component to the annual major exercises between the QUAD partners. Navy QUAD is expected to conduct advanced live fire exercises and war games maneuvers during this exercise period.
The second phase of Malabar 2021 took place in the Bay of Bengal from 12 to 15 October with the US Navy represented by the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson along with two destroyers. The Indian Navy was represented by a destroyer, a frigate and a submarine. The Japanese and Australian navies sent two warships each to these exercises.
Due to the PLA Navy’s aggressive posture in the Indo-Pacific, with the frequent presence of Chinese submarines in the Indian Ocean, QUAD naval exercises have in the past included coordinated anti-submarine operations exercises and special forces operations.
The basic purpose of Malabar, which began as a bilateral Indo-US exercise way back in 1992, is for the QUAD navies to understand each other as they are linked with the common goal of securing sea lanes of communication and freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific, particularly the South China Sea.
The decision to add the Australian Navy was made in 2020 following China’s military conflicts in both eastern Ladakh and Taiwan. The last time the Australian Navy participated in Malabar before 2020 was in 2007, which included a Singaporean contingent.
However, the five-member grouping was scaled back after Beijing issued a demarche to all countries saying the exercise smacked of anti-China sentiment. Malabar was reconvened in 2017 as a trilateral with Japan and the US, and in 2020 the QUAD countries signed up and joined hands over China’s wolf warrior actions in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean.
While the US Navy was tentatively deployed in the Philippine Sea during Chinese combat drills during House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last month, the Indian Navy has been locked in with China over the increasing frequency of PLA ballistic missiles and satellite surveillance ships in the Indian Ocean. and with Sri Lanka for allowing Beijing’s strategic assets to dock at Hambantota port.
Read Now :45 YouTube videos from 10 YouTube channels block by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
