MALABAR NAVAL EXERSISE

First phase of the Malabar 2020 joint naval exercise has been conducted recently.

Context

• First phase of the Malabar 2020 joint naval exercise has been conducted recently.

What is Malabar Exercise?

• It is a multilateral naval exercise that includes simulated war games and combat manoeuvres.
• It started in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between the Indian and US navies. Australia Joined it in 2007 and Japan joined in 2015.
• Last year it was held in early September off the coast of Japan.

Malabar 2020

• This year’s Malabar Exercise has been planned on a “non-contact-at sea” format keeping Covid-19 protocols in mind.
• This year the exercise will be held in two phases, the first from Tuesday off the coast near Visakhapatnam and the second in the Arabian Sea in mid-November.
• For the first time in over a decade, the exercise will see the participation of all four Quad countries.
• It work on the principal of upholding the rules-based international order, respecting the rule of law and freedom of navigation in the international seas and upholding the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all states are essential.

QUAD

• The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD, also known as the Quad) is an informal strategic forum between the United States, Japan, Australia and India.