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Biggest joint naval exercise in Bay of Bengal in September

Sandeep Dikshit

U.S., Japan, Australia and Singapore navies to participate in manoeuvres

A joint naval exercise between India and the U.S. in 2005, a file photo.

NEW DELHI: India will hold its biggest naval exercise with the U.S., Japan, Australia and Singapore in the Bay of Bengal in September this year, senior security officials here said on Wednesday.

The decision comes amid China’s concerns over last month’s meeting between India, the U.S., Japan and Australia and assurances by India and Australia that security and defence issues did not form part of the meeting’s agenda.

The concern over “encirclement of China’ was strong enough for Beijing to issue a demarche to all four nations, demanding the purpose behind the meeting. A demarche is a formal diplomatic communication from a country seeking information from another.

Sources said the naval exercise would see the participation of three aircraft carriers, two from the U.S. and one from India, besides several warships. This could be a rare occasion of a large flotilla undertaking manoeuvres in international waters close to India.

The spadework for the exercise was done earlier this year, well before the June meeting. The location of has been chosen to maintain distance from the arc of the Pacific Ocean skirting the borders of Russia and China where such moves could arouse Beijing’s sensitivities.

‘Malabar’ exercise

The last exercise of such magnitude took place in 2005 when the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and INS Viraat participated in the annual bilateral exercise “Malabar.”

Later, after the Presidential fleet review last year, the two navies met at “short notice” south of Sri Lanka. An aircraft carrier was involved in the exercise.

For Australia, war games of this magnitude would be the first ever with India although the two sides had held preliminary exercises earlier. An Indian warship made port calls at Perth and Sydney. Later, an Australian warship arrived in Goa but exercises were called off due to bad weather.

Japan’s first interaction with the Indian Navy took place off its coast in April this year along with the U.S. Navy. However, the Indian Navy tried to balance out these interactions by touching base with China, Russia and Vietnam.

Meeting without agenda

Although the June meeting was held without any agenda and the participants decided not to publicise it or the agenda, visiting Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson told newspersons on Wednesday that security and defence issues were not on the agenda.

Australia was happy with its existing post-World War II security arrangements and did not wish to complicate matters by forging another security grouping in the region.

Bilateral arrangements

“We do not wish to have quadrilateral strategic dialogue in defence and security matters. We wish for separate bilateral arrangements,” Dr. Nelson said.

“We were conscious of not trying to create the impression of a gang-up against them [China]. I think at this time, none of the others wants to either,” a senior official of the Ministry of External Affairs told The Hindu after the June meeting.

The meeting was preceded by a joint statement on May 1 by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defence Secretary Robert M. Gates, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma which spoke about a “common strategic objective” of “continuing to build upon partnerships with India to advance areas of common interests and increase cooperation, recognising that India’s continued growth is inextricably tied to the prosperity, freedom, and security of the region.”

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