India
on Monday announced that Australia will join the upcoming Malabar mega drill
likely to conducted next month alongside Japan and the USA in the Bay of Bengal and
the Arabian Sea.

Australia’s
collaboration ensures that all four members of the Quadrilateral coalition will
participate in the annual exercise likely to take place next month.

India’s
decision to allow Australia to participate in the mega naval drill comes as
relationship with neighbour China continues to deteriorate, with the two
countries embroiled in a bitter border row in eastern Ladakh.

The
Defence Ministry of India issued a statement saying, “As India seeks to
increase cooperation with other countries in the maritime security domain and
in the light of increased defence cooperation with Australia, Malabar 2020 will
see the participation of the Australian Navy.”

The
Ministry stated that the exercise planned will be of ‘non-contact-at sea’
format.

“The
exercise will strengthen the coordination between the navies of the
participating countries,” added the ministry.

China has
raised suspicious about the purpose of the Malabar exercise and states that the
annual war game is an effort to contain its influence in the Indo-Pacific
region.

The Malabar
exercise started in 1992 as a bilateral drill between the Indian Navy and the
US Navy in the Indian Ocean. Japan became a permanent participant in the
exercise in 2015.

For the last few years, Australia has been
showing keen interest in joining the exercise.