India is set to conduct a major war exercise amid China’s dominance in the South China Sea and China’s intention 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 conducted later this year in the Bay of Bengal. The 28th Malabar naval exercise is going to be held at a time when China is eyeing the South China Sea.
Worry for China
In October, the navies of the US, Japan and Australia will gather in the Bay of Bengal, India’s eastern sea region. This time, it will be more complex compared to the previous editions and will include anti-air and anti-submarine warfare drills. Along with this, the navies of the four countries will also learn the best practices of many advanced exercises from each other.
Background
The Malabar exercise was started 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 a Quad group. Sydney hosted the Malabar exercise in August last year and Japan in 2022. But this time it is India’s turn to host.
China’s eyes on the Indian Ocean after the South China Sea
China’s growing expansion in the Indian Ocean is a matter of 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. Now it is again looking for logistics related facilities on the east coast of Africa. At the same time, China is making moves in many countries like Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar and Comoros. Beijing has full access to Pakistan’s Gwadar and Karachi ports. At the same time, Chinese ships often roam in the Indian Ocean region in the name of research. India has always been protesting against this that China has been spying on India’s naval areas and submarines in the name of survey.
At any given time, there are 6-8 Chinese warships in the IOR which roam around for anti-piracy patrol, apart from this, a large number of Chinese fishing boats and vessels also stay in the Indian Ocean region. The Indian Navy is fully alert about China’s increasing presence in the Indian Ocean region.
India’s relations with Quad countries are strong!
Quad group means Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, which is a multilateral agreement between Japan, Australia, India and America. Quad works towards increasing coordination with each other in the Indo-Pacific region and making sea routes safe. At the same time, now China has started getting closer to the Quad group country Australia.
After seven years, a Chinese Prime Minister has visited Australia. China’s PM Li Qiang reached Australia last month in June and met Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Both met at a time when relations between China and Australia are sour. 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 the Australian MH60R Seahawk helicopter during a routine flight. After this incident, the Chinese PM visited Australia to improve relations and make inroads into the Quad countries. After meeting the Australian PM, Li Qiang said, “We have reached an agreement to seek each other’s views on some differences and disagreements and to resolve the differences in a proper manner in accordance with our comprehensive strategic partnership.”