After Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spent over an hour on board India’s second aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, the mighty quad navies are gearing up for advanced naval exercises this year under the Malabar series off the coast of Sydney. The dates and schedule of Malabar exercise are being worked out and will be announced soon.
From 2020, the annual Malabar naval exercise is participated by the QUAD Navy with the 2022 exercise being held in the East China Sea.
Australian PM Albanese was clearly impressed by the massive public reception hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Ahmedabad Cricket Stadium as well as the military reception on board INS Vikrant and the two countries are set to further strengthen their bilateral ties. It is understood that India is looking towards Australia as a major defense partner with close maritime ties as the two countries are linked together as neighbors in the Indian Ocean region.
While India and Australia will deepen their ties on education, mobility and resources, both the partners are looking for long-term defense cooperation as they both face a war with China in the Indo-Pacific region. Both countries are part of the QUAD forum, of which the US and Japan are other members of the grouping.
With the Philippines under Ferdinand Marcos Jr. doing a 180-degree turn on China and offering five more bases to the US in addition to the five existing ones, it will be interesting to see if Manila also participates in the Malabar naval exercise off the coast of Sydney. decides to join or not. ,
Even though Australia is part of the AUKUS strategic alliance and the US has a forward naval base at Yokosuka, Japan, India is a close partner of all three countries in the Indo-Pacific with its strategic autonomous approach. Australia, on its part, is responding to India’s bilateral proposals and is keen to strengthen board ties with New Delhi.
Prime Minister Albanese is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the capital today and exchange several bilateral agreements. However, the agreements reflect the deepening of bilateral ties between the two countries as there is a genuine desire on both sides to join hands.
