13 years on, the Quad resumes war games amid China's growing assertiveness

The navies of India, US, Japan and Australia are back together for Exercise Malabar

Thirteen years after they last exercised together in the Indo-Pacific, navies of the Quadrilateral (Quad) grouping countries came together again on Tuesday in the annual multi-national maritime “Exercise Malabar”.

After the Quad last exercised together in 2007, Beijing made it clear it regarded Exercise Malabar as the military manifestation of a US-Japan-Australia-India “alliance of democracies” aimed at containing China.
 

In response that year, New Delhi and Canberra soothed Beijing’s concerns and Malabar returned to being a bilateral exercise between the Indian and US navies. However, China’s growing assertiveness and regional muscle-flexing brought Japan back into Exercise Malabar in 2015 — and this year, Australia too joined in.
 

In an unusually political statement, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) stated on Monday that this year’s Exercise Malabar would “showcase the high levels of synergy and coordination between the friendly navies, which is based on their shared values and commitment to an open, inclusive Indo-Pacific and a rules-based international order”.
 

As was the case in 2007, this year’s 24th edition of Exercise Malabar is divided into two phases: The first to be conducted in the Bay of Bengal from Tuesday to Friday; and the second, much larger phase, in mid-November.
 

Phase-1 will involve one warship each from the US, Japan and Australia. These will include the American guided-missile destroyer, USS John S McCain; the Australian long range frigate, Her Majesty’s Australian Ship (HMAS) Ballarat, and the Japanese destroyer, Japan Maritime Self Defence Ship (JMSDF) Onami.

 

Indian warships participating include the destroyer INS Ranvijay, stealth frigate INS Shivalik, offshore patrol vessel INS Sukanya, fleet support ship INS Shakti and the submarine INS Sindhuraj, along with P-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft.

This is significantly lower than 2007, when 16 warships participated in the first phase of the exercise and 26 in the second. However, navy sources say the second part of Malabar 2020, which will be conducted in the Arabian Sea, will feature far greater participation, including by aircraft carriers.
 

Furthermore, the sophistication level of Exercise Malabar has systematically risen over the years. According to the MoD, the exercise that began today “would witness complex and advanced naval exercises including surface, anti-submarine and anti-air warfare operations, cross-deck flying, seamanship evolutions and weapon firing exercises”.
 

In addition, the signing of two foundational defence agreements by India — the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) in 2018, and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geospatial Intelligence (BECA) last month — opens the doors for far greater sharing of communications, intelligence and geospatial data.
 

India also has agreements for military logistics support with all three countries participating in Malabar. This will permit their warships to remain in the Indian Ocean Region for extended periods, plugged into Indian Navy logistics systems.
 

Malabar 2020 is being conducted as a “non-contact, at sea only” exercise in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.