Focus: GS III: Security Challenges
Why in News?
The Malabar naval exercise, the most visible manifestation of the expanding military interoperability among the Quad countries, will be conducted off Australia for the first time this August.
About Malabar naval exercise
- The Malabar naval exercise is a bilateral naval exercise between India and the US Navy that started in 1992.
- The exercise was expanded into a trilateral format with the inclusion of Japan in 2015.
- In 2020, the Australian Navy joined the Malabar Exercise, making it a quadrilateral naval exercise.
- The first Malabar Exercise in the Bay of Bengal took place in 2007.
- The aim of the Malabar Exercise of India, the US, Japan and Australia is to coordinate for a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific.
- The exercise takes place annually in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans alternatively.
- The Malabar Exercise includes a diverse range of activities such as fighter combat operations and maritime interdiction operations.
