Malabar exercises News

Senators in the joint letter said, "We write in strong support of India’s decision to formally invite Australia to participate in the annual Exercise Malabar." They added, "Almost three decades ago, the Malabar Exercise acted as a launching pad for increased US-Indian relations. We hope that Japan’s inclusion in the exercise, and now Australia’s, will have a similar effect, strengthening cooperation among the Quad as we collectively defend our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific." Malabar annual naval exercise started as a bilateral India-US exercise in 1992 and Japan also joined in 2015.

Amid simmering South China Sea tensions, China has permitted 29 US naval captains to visit its lone aircraft carrier and meet its personnel to show its prowess.