Australia will host first joint Naval “Exercise Malabar” of QUAD countries (Australia, India, Japan and USA) later this year that will bring together Australian Navy, Indian Navy, US Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF). This is significant in view of China’s rising naval influence in the region.
This was announced by the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today who is currently on state visit to India.
He said, “I was pleased to formally announce Australia will host Exercise Malabar for the first time later this year, bringing together the @Australian_Navy, @IndiannavyMedia, @USNavy and @jmsdf_pao_eng”.
He said,” For Australia, India is a top tier security partner”.
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD), commonly known as the Quad, is a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan and the United States of America (USA) which is widely viewed as a response to increased Chinese economic and military power in the region.
He embarked India’s the indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant at Mumbai. He was received onboard by Chief of Indian Navy with a Guard of Honour.
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