(Source : Navy Times – Geoff Ziezulewicz) – With an eye on China, US Navy joins India, Japan and Australia for Malabar exercise
The U.S. Navy is joining several other countries in the Bay of Bengal this week for the 24th iteration of Exercise Malabar, an India-led effort that comes amid increased tension between Beijing and New Dehli.
The guided-missile destroyer John S. McCain is joining the militaries of Australia, Japan and India in the exercise, which began in 1992, according to the Navy. (…)
While the Navy’s announcement of the exercise does not state what the nations will specifically work on during the exercise, it notes that “a variety of high-end tactical training” will take place among the four nations, which all operate together regularly in the Indo-Pacific. (…)
India’s invitation to Australia to participate in this year’s Malabar exercise, a first, is seen by some as a way for the nation to fortify its strategic alliances in order to blunt China’s goals to expand its influence into the Indo-Pacific, FT reported. (…)
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Photo © The Indian frigate INS Shivalik steams off the starboard of the guided-missile destroyer John S. McCain this week during the Malabar exercise, US Navy, MC2 Markus Castaneda, as published in ibid
