Malabar 2020: There will be no contact between military personnel due to COVID-19.
New Delhi:
A weapon firing sequence was performed on day three of the “Malabar 2020” Four Nation Naval Warfare Games in the Bay of Bengal off Visakhapatnam.
India, the United States, Japan and Australia began their largest joint naval exercises in more than a decade on Tuesday, seen as part of efforts to balance China’s military and economic reach in the region.
A video of the weapons firing sequence of the first phase of the naval exercises today shows shells fired by an Indian and Australian frigate. The first of the two-phase exercises will take place November 3-6.
This is the first time that the four partners of the Quadrilateral or Quad alliance – India, United States, Australia and Japan – have participated together in a naval exercise of this scale.
#WATCH Phase 1 of the 24th annual Malabar 2020 naval exercise underway in the Bay of Bengal.
The Indian Navy, the United States Navy, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force and the Royal Australian Navy are participating in the naval exercise which began on November 3. pic.twitter.com/DcxxH6AVP9
– ANI (@ANI) November 6, 2020
The first phase, which ends today, focuses on complex and advanced naval exercises, including surface warfare, anti-submarine and anti-aircraft operations, inter-bridge flights, seamanship evolutions and gun shooting exercises.
Five Indian Navy ships, including a submarine, were deployed to the exercise along with the US Navy’s John S McCain missile destroyer, Australian frigate Ballarat and a Japanese destroyer, the Defense Ministry said.
There will be no contact between military personnel from the four countries due to COVID-19 restrictions during the first phase of the exercises until November 6, the Defense Ministry said.
This year the “Malabar” wargames have been expanded to include all Quad members.
The second phase of the exercise will take place in mid-November in the Arabian Sea.
The exercises come at a time when India is locked in a military stalemate along the line of effective control with China.
