NEW DELHI (Sputnik) — Australia had wanted to be part of this year's exercise but was denied permission in deference to China. Naval ships, aircraft and personnel from India, Japan and the United States will participate in the exercise.
"The exercise will feature both ashore and at-sea training off the eastern coast of India in the Bay of Bengal. Training will focus on high-end war fighting skill-sets, subject matter expert and professional exchanges, combined carrier strike group operations, maritime patrol and reconnaissance operations, surface and anti-submarine warfare, medical operations, damage control, special forces, explosive ordnance disposal, helicopter operations and visit board search and seizure operations," a statement from the US embassy said on Thursday.
"Indian, Japanese and US maritime forces look forward to working together again to build upon and advance their working relationship to collectively provide security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. Each iteration of this exercise helps to increase the level of understanding between our sailors and interoperability between our three navies," US embassy further added.
Malabar 2017 is the latest in a continuing series of exercises that has grown in scope and complexity over the years to address the variety of shared threats to maritime security in the Indo-Asia-Pacific.
