Exercise Malabar

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The 26th edition of the quadrilateral maritime drill, Exercise Malabar among the navies of the Quad countries India, the United States, Japan and Australia culminated in the seas off the coast of Japan.

• The exercise aimed at cooperation in the strategically significant Indo-Pacific region was hosted by the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) this time.

Malabar Exercise and how it has evolved

• It is a multilateral war-gaming naval exercise that started in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between India and the USA.
• After successful editions in 1995 & 1996, there was a break until 2002 in the aftermath of India’s nuclear tests.
• It has been conducted every year after 2002
• Japan and Australia first participated in 2007, and since 2014, India, the US and Japan have participated in the exercise every year.
• Japan joined in 2015 as a permanent member, and Malabar became a trilateral exercise.
• In 2020, for the first time in over a decade, Australia joined the exercise and all QUAD navies were seen together in action.
• The 26th edition is quadrilateral maritime drill among the navies of the Quad countries — India, the United States, Japan and Australia.
• The exercise aimed at cooperation in the strategically significant Indo-Pacific region, through improved interoperability with the partner navies.

In the 26th edition

• The Indian Navy was represented by Eastern Fleet, led by its Flag Officer Commanding, Rear Admiral Sanjay Bhalla.
• The Indian contingent was represented by stealth multirole frigate INS Shivalik and anti-submarine corvette INS Kamorta.
• ‘War at Sea’ exercise
• Exchange of ‘Sea Riders’