Malabar Exercise to be held in Bay of Bengal

October 31, 2020

The first phase of Malabar Exercise is to be held in Bay of Bengal between November 3, 2020 and November 6, 2020. The navies of India, Japan, US and Australia are to participate in the exercise. The second phase of the exercise is to be held between November 17, 2020 and November 20, 2020.

Highlights

The first phase of the exercise will include complex and advanced naval exercises. During the exercise, the countries will conduct anti-warfare and anti-submarine operations, seamanship evolution, cross-deck flying and weapon firing exercise.

During the exercise, the Indian Navy is to deploy a number of key platforms. This includes off-shore patrol vessel Sukanya, frigate Shivalik, fleet support ship Shakti and submarine Sindhuraj. Also, the Dornier maritime patrol aircraft, long range maritime patrol aircraft P-81 and the advance jet trainer Hawk are to be deployed.

About the Exercise

The exercise began in 1992 between India and US in the Indian Ocean. Later in 2015, Japan became the permanent member of the exercise. In 2019, the exercise was held in Japan and in Philippine sea in 2018.

Recent Developments

After the Ladakh stand off with China, India has been strengthening its defence forces, fastening its border infrastructure developments. Also, India has been actively negotiating with International powers to ensure free open Indo-Pacific. India has also been conducting frequent missile tests and holding several military exercises. These are to send strong signals to the Chinese and to keep the defence systems prepared to counter Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean.

The recent military exercises and counter measures of India to Chinese actions in the Indian Ocean Region are as follows