Malabar military exercises with 'Quad' nations begin in message to China

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A sailor sends off an MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter from the Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Ballarat as it takes off from the flight deck aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain. | U.S. NAVY

Warships and aircraft from the four “Quad” nations kicked off the annual Malabar joint military exercises in the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday, with Australia rejoining the drills for the first time in 13 years.

The exercise comes less than a month after a highly symbolic Quad meeting in Tokyo of the top diplomats of four of the most powerful democratic countries in the Indo-Pacific region — Japan, Australia, India and the United States. Although few concrete takeaways emerged from those talks, they were widely interpreted as a message to China.




The exercises are not formally linked to the Quad forum, but observers say the participants hope to turn drills into a counterweight to Beijing’s increasingly potent military and political influence in the region.

The first phase of the exercises run through Friday, while a second phase will be held later this month.

This year’s exercises, the 24th iteration of the drills, include “a variety of high-end tactical training, including specific interactions that are designed to enhance interoperability between the Royal Australian Navy, Indian Navy, Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) and U.S. maritime forces,” the U.S. Navy’s 7th fleet said in a statement.

“Malabar provides an opportunity for like-minded navies, sharing a common vision of a more stable, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific, to operate and train alongside one another,” said Cmdr. Ryan T. Easterday, commanding officer of the USS John S. McCain destroyer.

Easterday also delivered what appeared to be a thinly veiled allusion to China, saying that cooperation was key to stability in the Indo-Pacific.

“A collaborative approach toward regional security and stability is important now more than ever, to deter all who challenge a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

Concerns over Chinese behavior among the four nations have skyrocketed in recent years. From its bloody border dispute with India and its maritime assertiveness with Japan, to its diplomatic and economic tussles with Australia and its fledgling superpower rivalry with the U.S., all four have, at least on some level, voiced frustration and anger with Beijing.

The Malabar exercises provide a highly visible chance for the countries to push back against China. Beijing has been critical of both the Quad and the Malabar exercises, alleging that they are part of an attempt to forge a military alliance designed to rein in China.

Experts have said that given the four Quad countries’ economies, military capabilities and geographic locations, the Malabar exercise represents another step toward a nightmare scenario for Chinese military planners by creating a de facto alliance.

Malabar was launched by India and the U.S. in 1992 and added Japan as a permanent partner in 2015. After more than a decade of absence, India invited Australia to participate this year “to increase cooperation with other countries in the maritime security domain and in light of increased defense cooperation with Australia,” the Indian Defense Ministry said in a statement earlier this month.

Australian Defense Minister Linda Reynolds on Tuesday highlighted the exercise as a symbol of improved ties between the Australian and Indian militaries.

“India and Australia are natural partners in the Indo-Pacific, and Exercise MALABAR is a clear demonstration of the depth of trust and cooperation between our defence organizations,” she said in a statement.

It is unclear if the Malabar exercises will ultimately be formalized within the loose architecture of the Quad, but experts say this year’s drills are a step in that direction.

“An expanded Malabar points to the emergence of a structured maritime coalition in the Indo-Pacific, amounting to an emergent defense maritime architecture vis-a-vis a revisionist China,” analyst Jagannath Panda wrote earlier this year on the website of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic Studies think tank.

 
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ekemenirtu

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Shouldn't they be conducting the exercises in South China Sea instead if they want to send a message to China?

Or at least near the Malacca Straits if they want a message about choking shipping lines through the strait?
 

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US supercarrier Nimitz to join Vikramaditya for QUAD Malabar exercise off Goa coast​

The two carrier groups, with MiG-29K fighters on board Vikramaditya and F-18 fighters on board Nimitz, will participate in war games, while the involvement of the two other countries, which are, like India and the US, members of the Quad grouping, will strengthen multi-operability in full domain exercises.​

INDIA Updated: Nov 07, 2020, 08:32 IST

The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68)as it leads a formation of ships from the Indian navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and the US Navy in the Bay of Bengal as part of Exercise Malabar 2017.
The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68)as it leads a formation of ships from the Indian navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and the US Navy in the Bay of Bengal as part of Exercise Malabar 2017. (AFP)

Indian Navy’s flagship Vikramaditya and US supercarrier Nimitz along with two destroyers of the Australian and Japanese navies will conduct full-spectrum exercises off the coast of Goa as part of Malabar war games from November 17 to 20.
The two carrier groups, with MiG-29K fighters on board Vikramaditya and F-18 fighters on board Nimitz, will participate in war games, while the involvement of the two other countries, which are, like India and the US, members of the Quad grouping, will strengthen multi-operability in full domain exercises. It is also expected to help all four countries understand the ethos and level of training of each other’s navies, commanders and personnel.
The exercise will take place in quite a congested environment with at least 70 foreign warships patrolling the area between the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s warships are not in the vicinity but are not too far off either -- ostensibly conducting anti-pirate operations off the Gulf of Aden.
According to top naval commanders, the Indian Navy is fully deployed on both the eastern as well as the western seaboard and prepared for contingencies in case the situation takes a turn for the worse in East Ladakh region. Analysts say it is clear that the Quad members are committed to keep the sea lanes of communication open for navigation and are ready to meet the challenge brought upon by PLA Navy by imposing constraints in South China Sea.
With the Indian Navy expected to commission indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant along with its second nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine, INS Arighat, by next year, India will be able to project power from Malacca Straits to Gulf of Aden and beyond, the analysts added.
Under navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh, the focus of the force has also been on rapidly developing military infrastructure in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands so that India can project power well beyond the Malacca Straits. The navy is also keen on building a third aircraft carrier so that it turns into truly blue water navy.
While there is an intensive debate among national security planners over the viability of a third aircraft carrier in an age when so-called standoff weapons and long range ballistic missiles are the order of the day, the navy’s argument is that a rising power like India cannot be tethered to the shore-line. This argument makes sense, say analysts, as China’s influence in Africa, Middle-East and Persian Gulf under the Belt Road Initiative has grown with Beijing leveraging its debt-hold on these countries.
With China reaching the Indian Ocean through Pakistan and Myanmar, the navy wants Indian maritime and commercial interests to be protected by three aircraft carriers, one each of Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean. The counter argument made by the national security planners is that India should simply turn some of its 1,062 island territories into permanent military bases to influence events in the region.
With the US, India, Australia and Japan communicating through deployed assets, liaison officers in each other’s naval commands, and Indian Ocean Monitoring Centres, the Quad, the analysts added, is definitely a force to reckon with in Indo-Pacific with situational awareness of both West Asia and Africa.
 

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USS Nimitz (CVN-68) is heading to the annual Malabar exercise to drill with an Indian aircraft carrier after spending nearly two months in the Persian Gulf.

A Navy spokesperson confirmed to USNI News on Monday that Nimitz is still operating within the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility in the Gulf of Oman, but is sailing to the Indian-led naval exercise.

Nimitz and India’s Kiev-class carrier Vikramaditya will partake in drills for Malabar 2020 between Nov. 17 and 20 near the Goa coast, The Hindustan Times reported over the weekend.

(More at link)
 

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