India, US, Japan begin naval exercises in disputed waters

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 10

India on Friday joined the US and Japan to conduct week-long Naval exercises in the disputed East China Sea, around 5,000 km from here. The Navy personnel of three nations will practise submarine hunting and validate procedures at sea.

In other words, collectively countering any adventurism by the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) of China. The move comes at time when Chinese submarines routinely foray in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian ocean.

Japan is hosting the exercise called ‘Malabar’ near the Okinawa islands — located 370 km east of the Senkaku islands — controlled by Japan but claimed by China. It was only last year that Japan was made a permanent member of the ‘Malabar series’ of Indo-US exercises.

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Both Japan and China have overlapping claims in these waters and even impose their respective air defence identification zones (AIDZ) over the islands. The US stands firmly with Japan on the matter and in December 2013 even sent its fighter jets to fly over the Senkaku when China unilaterally imposed an ADIZ of its own.

Sources said the exercise was aimed at ‘strengthening’ India, Japan and the US naval cooperation. Specialists from the three forces will sit down to formulate procedures at sea and validate the same during the sea-phase of the exercise that will include scenarios of anti-submarine warfare, air defence and anti-surface warfare.

More than 100 assets — warships, fighter jets, surveillance aircraft with capacity to spot submarines, amphibious plane, specialised helicopters — will be part of the sea-phase of exercise.

The US will lead the way with its 1,00,000 tonne nuclear powered aircraft carrier, the USS John C Stennis, over 20 major warships, about 50 anti-submarine warfare helicopters, long-range maritime surveillance aircraft, the Boeing P8-A, and over 100 aircraft, including Boeing Super Hornet ship-deck based fighters.

India is fielding its stealth frigates INS Shayadri and INS Satpura, fleet tanker INS Shakti and missile corvette INS Kirch. Apart from this, a detachment of Indian Marine Commandos (MARCOS) will participate in the exercise. Japan will field the JS Hyuga —a flat deck helicopter carrier with onboard copters; amphibious plane the ShinMaywa Industries and the PC 3 Orion planes.