Countering challenges in Indo-Pacific

The navies of India, Japan, Australia and the US took part in the multi-nation annual maritime exercise, named Malabar, which started on Monday.

The nine-day exercise from November 10 to 18 is being hosted by the US, at Guam island, one of its military bases in the western-part of the Pacific Ocean.

Indian Navy warship INS Sahyadri has reached Guam, the Indian Navy had said on Sunday. The drills kick off with a harbour phase that would feature operational planning and discussions, alignment on communication protocols, familiarisation visits between participating nations and sports fixtures.

Following the harbour phase, all participating units will proceed for a sea phase — during which ships and aircraft will take part in naval drills, focusing on joint fleet operations, anti-submarine warfare, gun firing and flying operations.

The exercise gains importance as all the four-countries operate the same maritime surveillance planes, which are also capable of hunting submarines. Thee sensors and radars on these planes can generate a common ‘picture’ at sea. The four also have other common platforms in their arsenal, which can enable seamless communication with each other.