Two Indian warships to take part in Malabar drills in Australia with US, Japan

Malabar began as an annual bilateral naval exercise between India and the US in 1992. It has increased in scope and complexity over the years.

NEW DELHI: Two Indian warships, the indigenously built INS Sahyadri and INS Kolkata, will participate in the 10-day Malabar exercise which will involve the navies of the US, Japan and Australia and begin off the Sydney coast on Friday, the Indian Navy said in a statement on the eve of the multi-nation drills.

Indian navy warship INS Sahyadri, an indigenously designed and built guided missile stealth frigate (File photo/Indian Navy)

The exercise is being hosted by the Royal Australian Navy for the first time.

Malabar began as an annual bilateral naval exercise between India and the US in 1992. It has increased in scope and complexity over the years.

The exercise involving the Quad navies will be conducted in two phases --- the harbour and the sea phase. “The harbour phase involves wide-ranging activities such as cross-deck visits, professional exchanges, sports fixtures and several interactions for planning and conducting the sea phase,” the statement said.

“The sea phase will include various complex and high intensity exercises in all three domains of warfare, encompassing anti-surface, anti-air and anti-submarine exercises including live weapon firing drills. The exercise provides an opportunity to the Indian Navy to enhance and demonstrate interoperability and gain from the best practices in maritime security operations from its partner nations.”

An Indian Navy P-8I submarine hunter plane will also take part in the exercise, officials aware of the matter said.

The two Indian warships taking part in the drills have been built at Mazagon Dock Ltd, Mumbai, and are fitted with modern weapons and sensors to detect and neutralise threats in surface, air and underwater domains, the statement added.

It was in the 2005 edition of the drills that aircraft carriers from the Indian and the US Navy operated together for the first time. In 2014, the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force became a permanent participant in the drills followed by Australia in 2020.

The Quad navies have earlier carried out complex drills under the Malabar banner in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Wary of the Quad, China has been monitoring its activities closely. The Quad was revived in late 2017 by India, the US, Australia and Japan, increasing Beijing’s suspicions as the four countries upgraded the forum to the ministerial level in 2019.