Phase 1 of the Malabar Naval Exercise has kicked begun with the participation of Australian navy for the first time since 2007.

Go through the list for once. UPSC may ask a match the pair type question asking exercise name and countries involved.

https://www.civilsdaily.com/prelims-spotlight-defence-exercises/

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. Japan joined in 2015.
• 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. Last year it was held in early September off the coast of Japan.

Major highlight: Quad Participation

• For the first time in over a decade, the exercise will see the participation of all four Quad countries.
• This will be the second time Australia will participate. In 2007, there were two Malabar Exercises.
• The first was held off Okinawa island of Japan in the Western Pacific — the first time the exercise was held away from Indian shores — and the second in September 2007.
• The following year, Australia stopped participating. Japan became a regular participant only in 2015, making it a trilateral annual exercise since then.

Why is Australia’s participation important?

• The 2+2 dialogue ended with an agreement to uphold the rules-based international order, respect for the rule of law and freedom of navigation in the international seas and upholding the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all states.
• As the standoff in eastern Ladakh continues, the participation of four large navies from the Indo-Pacific region will send a message to China.
• It was the possibility of riling up China that had prevented India from expanding the Malabar Exercise, and from Australia joining it.

Quad is an exception

• Over the last few months, the Indian Navy has conducted a number of Passage Exercises (PASSEX) with navies from Japan, Australia and the US.
• But those were basic exercises to increase operability between the navies, while Malabar involves simulated war games.

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