- Malabar 2007
Malabar 2007 is a multilateral naval exercise involving
India , theUS and three other nationsJapan ,Australia andSingapore begin on September 4, 2007 in theBay of Bengal . This is the first time a joint exercise on this scale involving 25 vessels is being conducted, an event that India says is a pointer to the country's growing importance on the world stage.China , which has not officially commented on the drill, is known to be unhappy over the event as it is being conducted in the Bay of Bengal for the first time. China has been cultivating naval cooperation withBangladesh andMyanmar to gain access to the Bay of Bengal. China has also been strengtheningmilitary cooperation withSri Lanka .India's Left parties that have been giving
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh 's government a hard time on the India-US civilian nuclear deal, have vehemently protested the joint drill, seeing it as yet another sign of the growing closeness betweenNew Delhi andWashington .In June, China had issued a '
demarche ' toIndia , theUS ,Japan andAustralia seeking details about their four-nation meeting, termed aQuadrilateral Initiative . India and Australia had quickly assured Beijing that security and defence issues did not form part of the meeting's agenda.At one time, the
Indian government was known to have considered postponing or even canceling the drill but theIndian Navy put its foot down, saying the logistics involved made any delay impossible.The operational area of Malabar-2007 will stretch from
Vizag on the eastern seaboard to theAndaman and Nicobar Islands that guard the approaches to theStrait of Malacca , considered the world's busiest waterway.The Malabar series is now in its 13th year. The drill has previously been a bilateral India-US engagement and has been expanded for the first time.
The US Navy will have the largest representation during Malabar-2007 with 13
warships , including thenuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz that generated much heat when it dropped anchor offChennai in July.The other vessels include the conventionally powered carrier
USS Kitty Hawk , thenuclear submarine USS Chicago , twoguided missile cruiser s, and sixguided missile destroyer s.Seven
warship s, including the aircraft carrierINS Viraat , will represent theIndian Navy . Viraat's Sea Harrier jets andSea King helicopter s, and theIndian Air Force 'sJaguar deep-penetration strike aircraft will also be seen in action.Australia will be represented by a
frigate and a tanker, Japan by two destroyers and Singapore by a frigate.In 2002, the exercises comprised basic passing maneuvers among naval vessels,
anti-submarine exercises and replenishment-at-sea drills. In 2003 and 2004, Malabar participants included advanced assets like theUSS Alexandria , aLos Angeles class submarine , and US Navy P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft. This enabled both navies to engage in submarine familiarization exercises, a key capability for anti-submarine warfare collaboration.In 2005, Malabar featured the participation of the aircraft carriers
USS Nimitz andINS Viraat . During a month of operations, US and Indian forces collaborated on a wide variety of tasks ranging from a joint diving salvage operation to a 24-hour 'war at sea' simulation that saw the two forces engage in mock combat.In 2006, a US expeditionary strike group comprising amphibious ships,
cruiser s,destroyer s, andsubmarine s participated in the exercise for the first time.Malabar-2007, besides interception and dissimilar air combat exercises, will also feature surface and anti-submarine warfare, maritime interdiction and
VBSS (visit, board, search and seizure) operations to counter piracy and terrorist acts at sea.
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