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 —