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Australia will participate in the <keyword id="2438987" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Malabar-naval-exercise">Malabar naval exercise</keyword>, involving the United States, Japan and India, to bring the four key partners in the Indo-Pacific region together next month, according to a statement issued by the Australian government. In a significant move that comes amid a Sino-India border row, India on Monday announced Australia's participation in the upcoming <keyword id="2426742" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Malabar-exercise">Malabar exercise</keyword> along with the US and Japan, effectively making it the first military-level engagement between the four-member nation grouping -- the Quad. <br /><br />The invitation by India to the Australian navy for the exercise next month came two weeks after the foreign ministers of the Quad held extensive talks in Tokyo with a focus on enhancing their cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, a region that has been witnessing increasing Chinese military assertiveness. <br /><br />Issuing the joint statement with Australian Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said that the announcement was another important step in Australia's deepening relationship with India. <br /><br />The federal government said that following an invitation from India, Australia will participate in the Malabar exercise. The exercise will bring together four key regional defence partners India, Japan, the United States and Australia in November, it said. <br /><br />Reynolds said Malabar-2020 marked a milestone opportunity for the Australian Defence Force (ADF). <br /><br />"High-end military exercises like MALABAR are key to enhancing Australia's maritime capabilities, building interoperability with our close partners, and demonstrating our collective resolve to support an open and prosperous Indo-Pacific," Reynolds said. <br /><br />Foreign Minister Payne said that the Malabar exercise also "showcases the deep trust between four major Indo-Pacific democracies and their shared will to work together on common security interests". <br /><br />"This builds on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, to which Prime Minister (Scott) Morrison and Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi agreed on June 4, 2020, and which I progressed with my counterpart, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar, this month when we met in Tokyo," she said. <br /><br /> "It will bolster the ability of India, Australia, Japan and the United States to work together to uphold peace and stability across our region," Payne asserted. <br /><br />Participation in the naval exercise demonstrates Australia's enduring commitment to enhancing regional security, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific, and increasing the capability and inter-operability of the ADF, she said. <br /><br />Australia last participated in Exercise MALABAR in 2007. <br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/policy/foreign-policy/news/trump-versus-biden-what-the-result-of-us-election-could-mean-for-india/articleshow/78750339.cms">EXCLUSIVE: Trump versus Biden — Here’s what the result of the US election could mean for India</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/exclusive-why-tata-motors-ceo-is-not-worried-about-musks-tesla-coming-to-india/articleshow/78749755.cms">Why Tata Motors CEO is not worried about Musk's Tesla coming to India</a><br /><br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/byjus-renewal-rates-stand-at-86-the-founder-of-the-11-billion-edtech-startup-shares-how-they-cracked-the-code-for-repeat-subscriptions/articleshow/78749254.cms"><strong>BYJU’S renewal rates stand at 86% – the founder of the $11 billion edtech startup shares how they cracked the code for repeat subscriptions</strong></a>

India ropes in all QUAD nations to participate in Malabar naval exercise

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>US Navy/Mass Comm Specialist 2nd Class Sarah Myers</span></p><p class="caption">The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan transits the Philippine Sea, June 2, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>US, Indian, and Japanese ships are in Guam for Exercise Malabar 2018.</strong></li><li><strong>This is the 22nd iteration of the Malabar exercise, which has been focused on maritime operations and security.</strong></li><li><strong>Recent versions of the exercise have taken place amid growing tensions between China and its neighbors.</strong></li></ul><p>US, Japanese, and Indian warships converged on Guam last week for the 22nd iteration of Exercise Malabar, an annual exercise focused on developing coordination and training to counter maritime threats.</p><p>This year's version of the exercise, which is <a href="http://www.pacom.mil/Media/News/News-Article-View/Article/1545620/us-indian-and-japanese-maritime-forces-begin-malabar-exercise/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the first</a> to take place around Guam, runs from June 7 to June 16, but as the ships involved gathered beforehand, the Chinese navy was keeping an eye on the proceedings.</p><p>Indian ships sailing to Guam were shadowed by Chinese warships in the South China Sea, breaking off only when the Indian ships entered the Philippine Sea.</p><p><span>"We had good, polite conversation. They were there for some time, and then broke off," Rear Adm. Dinesh K. Tripathi, commander of India's Eastern Fleet and head of India's delegation to Malabar 2018, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/beijing-keeping-close-watch-on-ongoing-malabar-wargames-by-india-us-japan/articleshow/64516019.cms">told The Economic Times</a>. "The moment we entered the Pacific across the Philippines Sea, they went back. It was interesting."</span><a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/64516019.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&amp;utm_medium=text&amp;utm_campaign=cppst"></a></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Google Maps</span></p><p class="caption">The US, Japanese, and Indian navies are taking part in Exercise Malabar 2018 in Guam, with both on-shore and at-sea portions.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p>Surveillance by Chinese ships, which Tripathi said was "<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/beijing-keeping-close-watch-on-ongoing-malabar-wargames-by-india-us-japan/articleshow/64516019.cms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not surprising</a>," comes a few weeks after Indian warships spotted a Chinese ship "tailing them at a safe distance" as they left Vietnam, following the <a href="http://www.janes.com/article/80206/india-vietnam-to-conduct-first-joint-naval-exercise" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first joint exercise</a> between those two countries.</p><p>"We knew we were being tailed, but we were on international waters or global commons, and therefore took evasive measures," sources <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/china-spies-on-indian-warships-as-they-leave-vietnam-after-naval-exercise-1250556-2018-06-05" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told India Today</a> of the incident.</p><p>That exercise, which ran from May 21 to May 25, attracted Chinese ire, with a Global Times op-ed <a href="http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1104314.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">calling</a> it "a futile attempt to flex muscle."</p><h2>'<span>Distance actually does not matter'</span></h2><p>Malabar started in 1992 as a US-India bilateral exercise. It has been done annually since then - with the exception of 1998 through 2002, after India's 1998 nuclear tests - expanding to a trilateral exercise with Japan's addition in 2015.</p><p>Other countries <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/malabar-2017-photos-of-us-india-and-japan-war-games-in-indian-ocean-2017-7#malabar-was-long-a-us-india-bilateral-exercise-but-it-has-become-indias-first-permanent-trilateral-exercise-after-japans-addition-in-2015-other-countries-have-participated-in-the-past-at-times-sparking-protest-from-china-india-and-australia-had-bilateral-exercises-earlier-this-year-as-did-australia-and-the-us-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have participated</a> in the past, though Indian has declined Australia's request to take part for the past two years. (Observers <a href="https://news.usni.org/2018/06/06/u-s-india-japan-navies-start-malabar-exercise-on-thursday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suspect</a> Chinese pressure is behind Canberra's exclusion.)</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://twitter.com/indiannavy/status/1004938668321091584/photo/1">Indian navy/Twitter</a></span></p><p class="caption">US, Japanese, and Indian personnel aboard Japan's Hyuga-class helicopter carrier JS Ise during Malabar 2018, June 7, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Malabar 2018 <a href="http://www.pacom.mil/Media/News/News-Article-View/Article/1545620/us-indian-and-japanese-maritime-forces-begin-malabar-exercise/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">consists</a> of on-shore and at-sea portions. The former ran from June 7 to June 10, involving expert and professional exchanges on carrier strike group, maritime patrol, and reconnaissance operations as well as on surface and anti-submarine warfare. The latter portion lasts from June 11 to June 16 in the Philippine Sea, and will include military-to-military coordination, air-defense and surface-warfare exercises, and replenishment while underway.</p><p>The US Navy has sent the USS Ronald Reagan, Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville, Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold, and a P-8A Poseidon aircraft.</p><p><span>India's participants include stealth frigate INS Sahyadri and the first-in-class antisubmarine-warfare corvette INS Kamorta, which was trailed by a Chinese ship while leaving Vietnam last month. India's fleet tanker INS Shakti and a P-8I Neptune, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/india-china-more-us-made-sub-hunting-planes-2018-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Indian variant</a> of the P-8A Poseidon, are also taking part.</span></p><p><span>Japan sent its Hyunga-class helicopter carrier JS Ise as well as two destroyers, JS Suzunami and JS Fuyuzuki.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>(US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Holly L. Herline)</span></p><p class="caption">US Navy Rear Adm. Bill Byrne, commander of Carrier Strike Group 11, watches the end of Exercise Malabar 2017 from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, in the Bay of Bengal, July 17, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>As in years past, Malabar 2018 includes a focus on submarine and antisubmarine warfare, a capability that has grown in importance <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-growing-submarine-force-worrying-pacific-us-2018-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as Chinese submarine activity has increased</a> in the Pacific and Indian oceans. </span></p><p><span>A number of countries in the region have been investing more in their submarine forces - India in particular is seeking <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/india-to-buy-submarines-amid-china-naval-activity-in-the-indian-ocean-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to add submarines</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/india-china-more-us-made-sub-hunting-planes-2018-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Neptune maritime-patrol aircraft</a>.</span></p><p><span>This year's version of the exercise is also the first since the US <keyword id="6354810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="defense">Defense</keyword> Department <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-renames-pacific-command-to-indo-pacific-command-to-counter-china-2018-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">renamed US Pacific Command as US Indo-Pacific Command</a> - a shift that has been interpreted as both a rhetorical swipe at China and an adjustment to the growing interconnectedness of the Pacific and Indian ocean regions.</span></p><p>Chinese spy ships have been spotted <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-spy-ship-seen-near-us-australia-talisman-saber-war-games-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lurking near US naval exercises</a> with partners in the region in the past, and such activity is <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/beijing-keeping-close-watch-on-ongoing-malabar-wargames-by-india-us-japan/articleshow/64516019.cms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expected</a> again during Malabar 2018.</p><p><span>For India, basing the exercise in Guam reflects the country's willingness and ability to project power.</span></p><p><span>"Distance actually does not matter. Wherever Indian maritime interests are, that is our area of operation," Tripathi <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/beijing-keeping-close-watch-on-ongoing-malabar-wargames-by-india-us-japan/articleshow/64516019.cms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told The Economic Times</a>. "Wherever national interest takes us, we will deploy if needed."<br /></span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/life-us-navy-submarine-military-training-armed-forces-2016-9">Everything you've ever wanted to know about life on a US Navy submarine</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

The US, Japanese, and Indian navies are meeting for exercises near Guam for the first time, and China is keeping a close eye on them

India’s latest maritime strategy document, released by the Navy recently, was noted for its title-‘Ensuring Secure Seas’-which pointed to a clever shift from the country’s hitherto theme, ‘Freedom to Use the Seas’, which was released in 2007.<br />
<br /> The tweaked title unambiguously indicated the changing colour and tone of the <keyword id="6355100" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Navy">Indian navy</keyword>’s interests and intentions, considering the changing geopolitical environment and its strategic implications on India’s maritime interests.<br />
<br /> It also implied the country’s focus on security dynamics along waters beyond the <keyword id="12350" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Ocean">Indian Ocean</keyword> and its renewed interest in security architecture across the Asia coast, taking into account the rising maritime presence of China is the region.<br />
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Three points that highlight the change in India’s naval strategy are that for the first time, the Indian government formally acknowledged the evolving concept of the ‘Indo-Pacific’ with regards to its maritime security. This is a clear deviation from the term ‘Indo-Pacific’, which is preferred by several strategically and politically important countries including the US and Japan while referring to the region in official documents, the lone exception being Australia.<br />
<br />
The shift implies that the country is ready to broaden its focus beyond Indian Ocean, take note of security changes along its entire maritime boundaries and re-align its policies based on these developments. This also reinforces India’s resolve to strengthen its role in the evolving maritime security architecture in the region.<br />
<br />
Secondly, India is willing to expand the areas of its maritime interest to include The Red Sea, The Gulf of Oman, The Gulf of Aden and The Southwest Indian Ocean, including east coast of Africa. Also, this puts to rest the concerns among friendly nations over the seeming lack of India’s naval and political presence in the South China Sea, against the backdrop of a rising China.<br />
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Thirdly, the document refines India’s role as a ‘net security provider’. While the country has not indicated the geographic extent of the region where it aspires to be a net security provider, it has acknowledged the steps required to be a net security provider. The document has also outlined the environment conducive for it to be a net security provider.<br />
<br />
The shift in India’s maritime strategy and policies has made it amply evident via the navy’s engagement under the Modi government. However, hitherto, it has not been any document that detailed this shift. The latest strategy document goes beyond formalising the Indian navy’s thinking and tries to narrate the same without ambiguity.<br />
<br />
It also emphases on collaborating with other countries in the region and to build a network of regional cooperation to ensure peace and stability.<br />
<br />
In fact, under Modi’s leadership, India has been sending a clear message that the country is willing to play a larger role in the unfolding security architecture in the region. This has been made evident through the joint strategic vision with the US, Japan’s inclusion into the MALABAR exercises, re-engaging with the island nations of the IOR and South Pacific and new bilateral exercises with Indonesia and Australia.<br />
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The strategy document has also made a strong pitch for ‘Make-in-India’, advocating enhanced degree of technological self-reliance and increased indigenisation of maritime platforms and equipment.<br />
<br />
While the strategy paper spells out India’s maritime interest, according to a section of defence analysts, it falls short of being the visionary document. In a world of growing geopolitical entanglements, the changes outlined in the document are seen by them cosmetic in certain areas. According to them, the document paints a picture of a force that boasts of growing capability and aspirations but conscious of its limitations too.<br />
Notwithstanding the Navy’s role in enhancing diplomatic relationships with neighbours and other peer groups, utilisation of maritime prowess just as a foreign relationship enabler is seen as a limited perceptive. It is true that passage exercises, staff talks, port visits and exchange of personnel are crucial; but they are not a substitute for high-level strategic engagement.<br />
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They also highlight the fact that the strategy document fails to paint the picture of China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean Region. In recent times, China deployed submarines in the IOR and enhanced anti-piracy patrols with the help of additional warships and platforms have acquired a strategic character.<br />
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The document also hesitates to dwell enough on the fact that China may be aiming to develop a littoral framework of operations in the Indian Ocean and familiarising itself with the operational environment for the same.<br />
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While India may have to work a lot more to overcome obstacles to expanding its global influence as a sea-power, especially as China continues to have an edge as a regional behemoth, its advantage of being an Indian Ocean littoral state will help emerge as a decisive maritime player beyond the immediate neighbourhood.<br />
 <br />
(Image: Indiatimes)<br />

The changing direction of India’s maritime strategy

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Getty Images / Thomas Peter-Pool</span></p><p class="caption">President Donald Trump with Chinese President Xi Jinping in China.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>China and its neighbors have been rapidly enhancing their militaries in recent years.</strong></li><li><strong>Countries in the region, worried about Beijing and uncertain about the US, are also looking to boost cooperation with each other.</strong></li><li><strong>Beijing is in an advantageous position and can wield considerable influence.</strong></li></ul><p>Military spending has ramped up in Asia, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-weaponizing-capital-us-navy-chief-awake-at-night-2018-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">led by China</a>, whose addition of submarines to its fleet has <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-growing-submarine-force-worrying-pacific-us-2018-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inspired similar ambitions</a> among its neighbors.</p><p>Beyond hardware, however, countries in Asia are also reassessing the balance of power in the region, contemplating how to engage China and what role the US - long a guarantor of security and trade in the region - will play in the region <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2018/02/us-allies-arent-buying-its-new-strategies-to-confront-china/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">going forward</a>.</p><p>"Everyone out in Asia is, on one hand, scared of China, and, the other hand, they need China for trade," Mike Fabey, author of the 2017 book "<a href="http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Crashback/Michael-Fabey/9781501112041" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Crashback</a>," about tensions between China and the US in the Pacific, told Business Insider. "Also there's a real sense of, 'China's right here. America's on the other side of the world.'"</p><p>Officials in the region felt the Obama administration "was letting China slide with a few things here and there" to secure cooperation, or at least noninterference, from Beijing on other issues, like the Paris climate accord, Fabey said. "But even with that, there was still definitely a feeling, 'Hey, America's got our back.'"</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Andrew Harnik/AP</span></p><p class="caption">President Donald Trump with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte at the ASEAN-US 40th Anniversary commemorative summit in Manila, November 13, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The Trump administration has referred to the region as the "Indo-Pacific," in what is likely meant to be a rhetorical <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/07/trump-asia-indo-pacific-244657" target="_blank" rel="noopener">swipe</a> at China, though it also <a href="https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/new-order-indo-pacific/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">points to</a> the region's maritime dimensions. But, Fabey said, "with the recent administration, there's much more of a feeling now in the Western Pacific, even from folks like Australia, who are really wondering exactly how far America would go now if China were to do anything."</p><p>That has translated into greater interest in local partnerships.</p><p>"You're starting to see Australia, Japan, and India, for example, there's a new emerging trilateral out there, and that they're counting the US out. The US is involved," Fabey said, but there's now more of a feeling of, "'We're on our own more, at least we should act like we're on our own more, and we'll do it without the US if we have to.'"</p><h2>'They're very good at playing that card'</h2><p>First proposed in 2007, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, made up of the US, Japan, Australia, and India, <a href="https://warontherocks.com/2017/11/rise-fall-rebirth-quad/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gained new life</a> last year, when officials from those countries <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2017/11/us-japan-india-and-australia-hold-working-level-quadrilateral-meeting-on-regional-cooperation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">met to discuss</a> a "free and open Indo-Pacific" and seven core themes, including freedom of navigation, maritime security, and a rules-based order in the region.</p><p>Some members of the Quad have tread carefully out of concern about China, which <a href="https://amp.afr.com/news/australia-mulls-rival-to-chinas-belt-and-road-with-us-japan-india-20180216-h0w7k5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">protested</a> its restoration. India has also expressed <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/beyond-big-game-hunting/article19988330.ece/amp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reticence</a> about the partnership - in part over concerns about its own <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-usa-quad/indian-navy-the-odd-man-out-in-asias-quad-alliance-idUSKBN1DM0UB" target="_blank" rel="noopener">autonomy</a> as well as <a href="https://warontherocks.com/2017/11/rise-fall-rebirth-quad/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doubts</a> about the other three countries' approaches to China.</p><p>"China likes to play the card, 'Look, you're Asian. We're Asian. Quite honestly, no Western power is going to protect your Asian rights out here ... You can't depend on the West to do that,'" Fabey told Business Insider. "And they're very good at playing that card."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>(US Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tyler Preston/Released)</span></p><p class="caption">A US sailor aboard Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Howard gives a tour to Indian sailors during Malabar 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>But cooperation between countries in the region continues, with an eye on securing and enhancing trade and security.</p><p>Japan has <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/02/09/japan-takes-the-lead-in-countering-chinas-belt-and-road" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increased efforts</a> to counter <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-weaponizing-capital-us-navy-chief-awake-at-night-2018-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China's Belt and Road initiative</a>, ramping up international partnerships and investments - including in Sri Lanka, where a recent Chinese port project has <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/indias-concern-with-beijing-expansion-grows-with-sri-lanka-port-deal-2017-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">angered India</a>.</p><p>Australia has <a href="https://amp.afr.com/news/australia-mulls-rival-to-chinas-belt-and-road-with-us-japan-india-20180216-h0w7k5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">followed suit</a>, talking to the US, India, and Japan about a joint regional infrastructure program <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-beltandroad-quad/australia-u-s-india-and-japan-in-talks-to-establish-belt-and-road-alternative-report-idUSKCN1G20WG" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to rival</a> Beijing's outreach.</p><p>Australia, India, and Japan have been pursuing a trilateral partnership since late 2015, aimed at ensuring "<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/australia-japan-and-india-trilateral-in-delhi-on-december-12/articleshow/61840323.cms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">open and free</a>" movement in the region and advancing their shared interests.</p><p>The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/malabar-2017-photos-of-us-india-and-japan-war-games-in-indian-ocean-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Malabar 2017 exercises</a> last summer, in which India, Japan, and the US took part, emphasized antisubmarine warfare - including submarine-on-submarine exercises. "Nowhere else does the American navy do that," Fabey noted, saying cooperation between US and Indian navies "is unlike any other in the world." (While New Delhi blocked Australia's participation in Malabar 2017, their <keyword id="6354810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="defense">defense</keyword> cooperation has <a href="https://warontherocks.com/2017/11/rise-fall-rebirth-quad/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">progressed</a>.)</p><p>India and Japan did <a href="http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/india-japan-begin-three-day-anti-submarine-drill-amid-concerns-over-china-117102900541_1.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three days</a> of antisubmarine exercises in the Indian Ocean in October.</p><p>In March, Vietnam's president visited India, where the leaders of the two countries put out a <a href="http://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/29535/IndiaVietnam+Joint+Statement+during+State+visit+of+President+of+Vietnam+to+India+March+03+2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> pledging to continue defense cooperation. Two days later, US carrier made <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2018/03/05/a-u-s-aircraft-carrier-arrived-in-vietnam-for-the-first-time-since-the-fall-of-saigon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a port call</a> in Vietnam - the first such visit in four decades and a sign of growing ties between the US and Hanoi (whose acquisition of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-growing-submarine-force-worrying-pacific-us-2018-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">submarines has also irked China</a>).</p><p>Around the same time, India's army chief said that New Delhi was working with Australia, Japan, and the US to guarantee "<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/india-engaging-with-aus-japan-us-to-ensure-freedom-of-navigation-gen-rawat/articleshow/63191611.cms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">freedom of navigation</a>" in the region. A few days later, India began its Milan 2018 naval exercises, <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2018/02/the-real-significance-of-indias-milan-navy-exercise/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">underscoring</a> New Delhi's growing engagement with the region.</p><p>The Milan exercises were first held in 1995 with four countries. This year, <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/multi-lateral-naval-exercise-begins-in-andamans/articleshow/63191024.cms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">16 countries</a> joined the drills, which for <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2018/02/the-real-significance-of-indias-milan-navy-exercise/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the first time</a> included a joint multilateral exercise at sea. The naval portion took place around the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/india-to-buy-submarines-amid-china-naval-activity-in-the-indian-ocean-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strategically located near the Malacca Straits</a>, which connects the Indian and Pacific oceans.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>(US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Holly L. Herline)</span></p><p class="caption">US Navy Rear Adm. Bill Byrne, commander of Carrier Strike Group 11, observes Indian navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and US Navy ships from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz during Malabar 2017 in the Bay of Bengal, July 17, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>That was followed in late March by <a href="http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=104810" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the fourth meeting</a> between US Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson and Indian navy chief Adm. Sunil Lanba, where they "discussed ways to improve interoperability to include additional naval exercises and staff talks."</p><p>As with the Quad, India, which <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/india-china-more-us-made-sub-hunting-planes-2018-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">uses Russian-made military hardware</a>, has been reluctant about joint operations. Its reticence about information-sharing has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-usa-quad/indian-navy-the-odd-man-out-in-asias-quad-alliance-idUSKBN1DM0UB" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly hindered</a> those exercises and broader interoperability.</p><h2>'Like their Caribbean'</h2><p>China has made clear its displeasure with such regional cooperation.</p><p>When Japan's inclusion in the Malabar exercise was permanent in late 2015, Beijing reacted sharply, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/china-reacts-sharply-to-japans-inclusion-in-malabar-exercises/articleshow/50172813.cms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a> it hoped "<span>the relevant country will not provoke confrontation and heighten tensions in the region."</span></p><p><span>The rivalry between China and India in the Indian Ocean appeared inflamed in February, when both looked <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-maldives-politics/asian-giants-china-and-india-flex-muscles-over-tiny-maldives-idUSKCN1GJ12X" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poised to respond</a> in the Maldives, where the government imposed a state of emergency, jailed opponents, and stifled protests. (The state of emergency <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/International-Relations/Maldives-lifts-state-of-emergency-defusing-China-India-tensions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was lifted</a> this week.) India has long wielded influence in the Maldives, but the government there has courted China, buying into what <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/International-Relations/Maldives-faces-Chinese-land-grab-over-unpayable-debts-ex-leader-warns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">critics fear</a> is Beijing's "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-weaponizing-capital-us-navy-chief-awake-at-night-2018-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">debt-trap diplomacy</a>."</span></p><p><span>China has also flexed its muscles in the South and East China Seas. In January, a Chinese sub <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2018/01/japan-identifies-chinese-submarine-in-east-china-sea-a-type-093-ssn/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was detected</a> around the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, which are controlled by Japan but disputed Beijing. It the <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/International-Relations/Submarine-seen-near-territory-was-Chinese-Japan-confirms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first confirmed</a> identification of a Chinese sub that area and drew a Japanese protest. Chinese ships have entered that area <a href="https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180323_26/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on six days</a> this year, most recently on March 23.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Japanese Ministry of Defense</span></p><p class="caption">A Chinese Shang-class nuclear attack submarine in the contiguous zone of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p>In recent days, Vietnam, which has sought to mollify Beijing after the US carrier's visit, assented <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-43507448" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to Chinese pressure</a> to scrap an offshore oil-drilling project - the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southchinasea-vietnam/vietnam-halts-south-china-sea-oil-drilling-project-under-pressure-from-beijing-idUSKBN1GZ0JN" target="_blank" rel="noopener">second time</a> in a year Hanoi has done so. The cancellation is <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-43507448" target="_blank" rel="noopener">likely to be read</a> in Beijing as a sign Vietnam's strategic thinking has not changed, despite US shows of force in the area.</p><p>Such a victory means Beijing's efforts to assert its claims, and to influence its neighbors, are unlikely to end. Even with regional efforts to counter China, the country's geography, resources, and military put it in a position to wield considerable influence over the region and the trade that passes through it - which makes a continuing US presence all the more important, said Fabey, author of "<a href="http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Crashback/Michael-Fabey/9781501112041" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Crashback</a>."</p><p>"If the US were to pull back from there ... China would take control, and if China wants to do this, they basically would," he told Business Insider. "The South China Sea could be like their Caribbean. How we control the Caribbean, China says it wants to control the South China Sea."</p><p>"Now as long as everything's equal - that is to say, that China is benefiting from that being free and open - then I guess there's no problem," Fabey said. But that could change, he added, if Beijing decides changing it is in its interests. "China will always do what's best for China."</p>      <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/market-outlook-equity-us-asia-growth-2018-3">Traders should be focused on the massive growth opportunities in Asia right now, says an HSBC investment chief</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

You Searched For "Malabar exercise" and got 4 results

India ropes in all QUAD nations to participate in Malabar naval exercise

PTI

The US, Japanese, and Indian navies are meeting for exercises near Guam for the first time, and China is keeping a close eye on them

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The changing direction of India’s maritime strategy

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Countries in Asia are wary of China - and they're 'wondering exactly how far America would go'

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