Malabar naval drill with Quad partners to kick off in Bay of Bengal on October 8

The exercise will feature participation of various Indian naval platforms, including guided missile destroyers, multi-purpose frigates, submarines, fixed wing MR, fighter aircraft and helicopters.

New Delhi: India and three Quad partners are all set to practice key military manoeuvres for ten days beginning next Tuesday in the Bay of Bengal, much to the discomfort of China.

The Exercise Malabar involving the navies of India, USA, Australia and Japan off the coast of Visakhapatnam between October 8-18 comes two weeks after top Quad leaders announced major steps to expand maritime security cooperation.

Destroyers and frigates of the four nations along with surveillance aircraft and on-board choppers will carry out anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare, and air defence exercises at sea, with an emphasis on improving situational awareness in the maritime domain, an Indian Navy spokesperson said here on Saturday.

“Malabar 2024 is expected to be the most comprehensive version of all editions so far, incorporating complex operational scenarios,” he said.

Australia will deploy HMAS Stuart, an Anzac class frigate with its MH-60R helicopter and P8 maritime patrol aircraft while the US Navy will field the USS Dewey, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer with its integral helicopter and P8 maritime patrol aircraft.

Japan will be represented by JS Ariake, a Murasame-class destroyer. Also special forces from all four nations will take part in the drill.

The Indian Navy will use its guided missile destroyers, frigates, submarines, long range maritime surveillance, fighter aircraft and helicopters.

The Malabar series of exercises began in 1992 as a bilateral wargame involving the US and Indian Navy, which used to happen alternatively in the Arabian Sea or southern Indian Ocean and western Pacific.

Bay of Bengal was chosen as the exercise arena only twice between 1992-and 2014, but five times in the last nine years as Beijing flexes muscles in the South China Sea and expands the footprint in the Indian Ocean region.

When it happened for the first time in 2007 with the participation of Australia, Japan and Singapore, it evoked a strong diplomatic response from China. As a result Australia skipped the future editions but Japan continued its participation.

Canberra re-entered in 2020 after Quad was revived in 2017 to support a free, open and rule based Indo-Pacific as against Beijing’s hegemonic approach.

“India has consistently advocated for a peaceful resolution to disputes and has sought to promote cooperation among nations in the Indo-Pacific," Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday at a naval conference, underscoring India's resolve to a rule-based international order, respect for international law, and adherence to the principles enshrined in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

In a joint statement issued after the Quad summit at Delaware last month, the leaders rolled out a number of new maritime initiatives among the partners to “advance maritime safety” and “uphold rule based international order."