India flexes naval muscle with Quad allies amid rising tensions with China

India is all set to conduct a major military exercise amid China’s dominance in the South China Sea and China’s intent to expand in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The annual Malabar naval exercise, along with its Quad allies, the US, Japan and Australia, will be held later this year in the Bay of Bengal. The 28th Malabar naval exercise will be held at a time when China has its eyes set on the South China Sea.

Concern for China

In October, the navies of the United States, Japan and Australia will meet in the Bay of Bengal, India’s eastern maritime region. This time, it will be more complex compared to previous editions and will include anti-air and anti-submarine warfare exercises. In addition, the navies of the four countries will also learn best practices from many advanced exercises from each other.

Background

The Malabar exercise began about 32 years ago. It started in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between India and the US. Now Japan and Australia have also been participating in the exercise as part of the Quad group. Sydney hosted the Malabar exercise in August last year and Japan in 2022. But this time it is India’s turn to be the host.

China’s eyes on Indian Ocean after South China Sea

China’s growing expansion in the Indian Ocean is a cause for concern. India has always dominated the Indian Ocean, but China’s interference has increased in recent years. China built its first overseas base in Djibouti in August 2017. It is now again looking for logistics-related facilities on the east coast of Africa. At the same time, China is making moves in many countries such as Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar and Comoros. Beijing has full access to the ports of Gwadar and Karachi in Pakistan. At the same time, Chinese ships often sail in the Indian Ocean region in the name of research. India has always protested against this as China has been spying on India’s naval and submarine areas under the pretext of surveys.

At any given time, there are 6-8 Chinese warships in the Indian Ocean region patrolling against piracy; in addition, a large number of Chinese ships and fishing boats also remain in the Indian Ocean region. The Indian Navy is fully alert about China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean region.

India’s relations with the Quad countries are strong!

The Quad group stands for Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, which is a multilateral agreement between Japan, Australia, India and the United States. Quad works to increase coordination among them in the Indo-Pacific region and make maritime routes safe. At the same time, China has begun to get closer to Quad member country Australia.

After seven years, a Chinese Premier has visited Australia. Chinese PM Li Qiang arrived in Australia last month in June and met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The two met at a time when China-Australia relations are tense. In May this year, there was a clash between the Chinese Air Force and Australian soldiers in the Yellow Sea.

China’s J-10 jet dropped flares several hundred meters above and ahead of Australia’s MH60R Seahawk helicopter during a routine flight. Following this incident, the Chinese PM visited Australia to improve relations and make inroads into the Quad countries. After meeting with the Australian PM, Li Qiang said, “We have reached an agreement to seek each other’s views on some differences and disagreements and resolve the differences appropriately in accordance with our comprehensive strategic partnership.”

Note: This article is republished from the «Financial Express» media outlet through a cooperation agreement between both parties for the dissemination of journalistic content. Original link.