Australia onboard for Malabar naval exercise for the first time, first Quad military wargames next m

Marking a significant shift in policy, India has invited Australia to participate in the annual Malabar series of naval exercises, marking the first time that the `Quad’, which includes US and Japan will conduct extensive wargames in the Indian Ocean Region. The exercises, which will take place both in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea demonstrate a change of stance for the first time since 2007 when Australia participated in Malabar but was dropped in subsequent editions after serious objections were raised by Beijing that even issued a formal demarche alluding to a military front directed towards it. The Malabar exercise, which will see major combatants from all four nations participating including aircraft carriers and submarines, will take place even as border tensions continue with China in Ladakh and are expected to see a reaction from Beijing which has been worried about the emergence of a quadrilateral military alliance in the region. “As India Seeks to increase cooperation with other countries in the maritime security domain and in the light of increased defence cooperation with Australia, Malabar 2020 will see the participation of the Australian Navy,” the defence ministry said in an official statement announcing the exercises. While India, US and Japan have been conducting the Malabar series of exercises annually, the 2007 edition marked a significant expansion with the participation of Australia and Singapore. Though the wargames continued to expand in terms of scope of joint operations in subsequent years, they remained restricted to India, US and Japan after the anguished Chinese reaction. Though Australia expressed it keenness to be included in the wargames, India had been reluctant to expand it into a quadrilateral format, given Chinese concerns. That seems to be matter of the past now, with twin statements issued by India and Australia on Monday, which even referred to common quadrilateral values. “Exercise MALABAR showcases the deep trust between four major Indo-Pacific democracies and their shared will to work together on common security interests,” Marise Payne, the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs said. Started in 1992 as a bilateral India-US exercise, Malabar this year has been extended in terms of physical presence also, with both the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal identified for the wargames. Given the Covid 19 crisis, this years edition will be a `non contact’ exercise, which means that crews will not be exchanged to act as coordinators like in the past. This could be a blessing in disguise, considering if real time operations were to take place between the nations, it would involve coordination and communication without the need to cross deploy personnel, using the existing resources available on military assets. The Malabar would benefit from a key communications pact that India has signed with the US that makes it possible to exchange real time intelligence, as well as military logistics sharing pact with all three participants. While no mention of China has been made, the twin statements by India and Australia are symbolic as they both referred to an open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, which has been under threat give Beijing’s aggressive maritime deployments. “The participants of Exercise Malabar 2020 are engaging to enhance safety and security in the maritime domain. They collectively support free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific and remain committed to a rules based international order,” the Indian Defence Ministry statement reads. This was reflected in the Australian statement that quoted Defence Minister Linda Reynolds saying that “high-end military exercises like MALABAR are key to enhancing Australia’s maritime capabilities, building interoperability with our close partners, and demonstrating our collective resolve to support an open and prosperous Indo-Pacific.”