India, US and Japan to participate in naval exercise

Naval ships, aircraft and personnel from India, Japan and the United States will participate in exercise Malabar 2017, in mid-summer 2017.

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, the US Consulate General said in a press statement.

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 warfighting skillsets, 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 (EOD), helicopter operations, and visit board search and seizure (VBSS) operations.

Indian, Japanese and U.S. 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 of our Sailors and interoperability between our three navies.