Malabar 2023: Indian Navy To Hold Naval Drills Off The Coast Of Sydney With The US, Japan And Australia

The Indian Navy will take part in Malabar exercise with the US, Japanese and Australian navies which will be held off the coast of Sydney in Australia, reports Hindustan Times.

The dates and schedules of the exercise will be announced later. The last Malabar exercise was held in the East China Sea.

The Malabar exercise aims to deepen ties between the QUAD navies, ie, India, the US, Japan, and Australia, as they face belligerence from China in the Indo-Pacific region.

Malabar series of maritime exercise commenced in 1992 with India and US as a part of it. In 2015, Japanese Navy joined Malabar as a permanent member. The 2020 edition witnessed participation of the Royal Australian Navy.

The announcement of Sydney as the location came on the four-day visit of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to India.

During his visit, Albanese also spent an hour aboard INS Vikrant, India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier, the HT report says.

The INS Vikrant which was inducted in September 2022 is a symbol of India's growing naval power and its ability to project its influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Malabar naval exercises will serve as an opportunity for India and the QUAD navies to deepen their defence cooperation, as they face security challenges from China, and this partnership will serve as an essential pillar of the broader QUAD strategic alliance.