‘Quad Navies’ have common goal behind Malabar Exercise: Indian Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh

New Delhi: India, US, Japan and Australia share a common vision and goals in the ongoing Malabar exercise in the Bay of Bengal. The exercise is being conducted for a free and open Indo-Pacific region, enhancing the coordination and cooperation between the navies of the four countries, said Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of Naval Staff of India. While saying this, the naval chief claimed that the exercise was not against any country. Despite the revelations from India, China is warning India against the Quad exercise, saying it is against China.

Just two days ago, the Malabar war exercises were mentioned in the Global Times, China’s official mouthpiece. The Global Times had claimed that India had become aggressive in the Ladakh border dispute against the backdrop of Malabar naval exercises with the US, Japan and Australia. ‘India should not be under the illusion that the US, Japan and Australia will come to its aid if there is a conflict with China. India should not assume that we can pressurise China over border disputes by using maritime exercises with these countries’, the Global Times warned. The mouthpiece also alleged that India is using salami-slicing tactics and was gradually encroaching on China’s borders and establishing control over it.

This slander made by the official mouthpiece of China is showing China’s uneasiness. Strategic analysts also claim that Quad’s cooperation has increased China’s insecurity. Analysts who have sided with China also acknowledge that China has gone on the backfoot while Quad‘s naval cooperation takes shape. In such a scenario, India once again made it clear that no country was the target of Quad practice. But the Indian naval chief has sent a clear message to China, saying that a free and open Indo-Pacific region is the common goal of the participating countries.

The Malabar exercise, which began in 1992, was bilateral in nature, but that has now completely changed. Aircraft carriers, destroyers and submarines are currently participating in the exercise, further strengthening coordination and cooperation between the Indian, US, Japanese and Australian navies. Admiral Karambir Singh, the Chief of Naval Staff, was indicative while underlining the benefits of the exercise, saying that if a catastrophic crisis arises soon, like a tsunami, it will increase the readiness to face it.

Meanwhile, after Malabar, the Indian Navy will begin naval exercises with the British aircraft carrier HMS Elizabeth. Earlier, India had conducted war exercises with the French Navy. This has put a lot of pressure on China and the growing capacity of the Indian Navy is adding to China’s insecurity.