Australia to join India, United States and Japan in Indo-Pacific Naval Exercise Malabar 2020 (File)
Melbourne:
Australia will participate next month in the Malabar naval exercise involving India, the United States and Japan, which will bring together the region’s four major defense partners and democracies, demonstrating their collective determination to support an Indo -Peaceful open and prosperous.
In a significant move that comes amid a deadlock on the Sino-Indian border, India on Monday announced Australia’s participation in the upcoming Malabar exercise alongside the United States and Japan, making it the first military-level engagement between the group of four countries – the Quad.
India’s invitation to the Australian Navy for the exercise came two weeks after Quad Foreign Ministers held in-depth talks in Tokyo with a focus on strengthening their cooperation in the Indo- Pacific, a region that has seen increasing military assertion from China.
In a joint statement with Australian Defense Minister Linda Reynolds, Foreign Secretary Marise Payne said the announcement was another important step in Australia’s deepening relationship with India.
The government has said that following an invitation from India, Australia will participate in Exercise Malabar-2020, which is scheduled to take place next month in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.
The exercise will bring together four key regional defense partners, India, Japan, the United States and Australia in November, he said.
Ms Reynolds said Malabar-2020 is a significant opportunity for the Australian Defense Forces (ADF).
“High-end military exercises like MALABAR are essential to strengthen Australia’s maritime capabilities, enhance interoperability with our close partners and demonstrate our collective determination to support an open and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” said Ms. Reynolds.
In recent years, Australia has shown a keen interest in participating in the premium naval exercise. Australia will return to joint maneuvers after participating in 2007. The United States has pushed for deeper military collaboration with Japan, India and Australia against China’s growing regional influence.
Beijing claims almost all of the 1.3 million square kilometers of the South China Sea as its sovereign territory. China has built military bases on man-made islands in the region which, in part, is claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Beijing has hampered trade activities such as fishing and mining exploration in neighboring countries in recent years, claiming that the resource-rich maritime territory is wholly owned by China.
Foreign Minister Payne said the Malabar exercise “also shows the deep trust between four major Indo-peaceful democracies and their common will to work together on common security interests.”
“This builds on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which Prime Minister (Scott) Morrison and Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi agreed to on June 4, 2020, and which I advanced with my counterpart, the Minister of Business exterior S Jaishankar this month when we met in Tokyo, ”she said.
“This will strengthen the ability of India, Australia, Japan and the United States to work together to maintain peace and stability in our region,” said Ms. Payne.
Participation in the naval exercise demonstrates Australia’s enduring commitment to enhancing regional security, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific, and to increasing the capacity and interoperability of ADF, he said. she declared.
Australia last participated in Exercise MALABAR in 2007.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
