The navies of India, U.S. and Japan will participate in a joint exercise ‘Malabar 2014’ from July 24 – 30.
India will be represented by its three warships – INS Ranvijay and Shivalik along with fleet support tanker ship INS Shakti. The U.S. has over 7,000 defence personnel participating in the exercise and includes nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington, Ticonderoga-class destroyer USS Shiloh, destroyer John S. McCain and nuclear submarine USS Columbus.
The exercise will feature both ashore and at-sea training. The at-sea exercises will be conducted in the Pacific waters south of Japan. They are designed to advance military-to-military coordination and capacity to execute tactical operations in a multi-national environment. Events planned during the at-sea portions will include anti-submarine warfare exercises.
The U.S. has said in a press statement that the joint naval exercise is not aimed at containing China as Beijing had in the past raised objections over Japan’s participation in the drills held mainly between American and Indian forces.
Malabar is an annual exercise between the Indian and U.S. navies which first began in 1992 and has featured the Japanese Navy on three separate occasions.