INDIAN NAVY TO JOIN MALABAR EXERCISE

ChinmayaIAS Academy - Current Affairs October 10, 2022 GS2 Leave a comment 229 Views

Japan will host the 2022 edition of the Malabar naval exercise consisting of India, Australia, Japan and the U.S. in the second week of November
The Indian Navy will also participate in the International Fleet Review (IFR) being hosted in the first week of November to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF)
This is the latest in a series of bilateral and multilateral exercises in which the Indian armed forces have taken part recently.
In October-end, the India-U.S. bilateral Army exercise ‘YudhAbhyas’ is scheduled to take place in the high-altitude areas of Uttarakhand, around 100 km (aerial distance) from the Line of Actual Control.
“The initial and final planning conferences for Malabar have been completed. The exercise is scheduled to be held from November 8 to 18
. While the Navy has not yet given details of its participation, two frontline warships and a P-8I maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) are likely to be deployed, it has been learnt.
Australia is keen to host the exercise, but that has not yet been accepted by the partner countries, two official sources stated.
Australia was included as a regular member in Ex Malabar in 2020.
The IFR to be held in the first week of November is being conducted during the 18th Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) ‘strategic discussion’ and ‘plenary session’ being hosted by Japan from November 5 to 10, according to a statement by the Royal Brunei Navy.
However, it is not yet clear if India would be taking part in the WPNS. A decision from the Defence Ministry is awaited, said a defence source in the middle of last week.
India is currently hosting the multilateral anti-terror exercise ‘Manesar Anti-terror 2022’ under the ambit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure scheduled from October 8 to 13.
At the same time, Australia’s flagship regional engagement activities, Indo-Pacific Endeavour, is currently under way.