By Akhilesh Pillalamarri
India and Japan inch closer to greater maritime security cooperation.
India, the United States, and Japan are set to hold week long war games in the Pacific Ocean starting this Friday. Warships from the three countries will begin the joint exercises after an official opening ceremony at U.S. Fleet Activities Sasebo, a naval base located near Nagasaki, Japan.
The Malabar Exercise, as this exercise is called, is normally an annual bilateral naval exercise involving India and the United States. The exercise mainly focuses on anti-piracy and anti-terrorism operations. India invited Japan to participate in the exercises earlier this year, a reflection of the increasingly close relationship between the two countries. The Prime Ministers of both countries, India’s Narendra Modi and Japan’s Shinzo Abe get along well. They are known to be of like mind on a variety of economic and security issues. Modi is set to visit Japan sometime in August or September.
Japan’s participation, however, is bound to ruffle feathers in China, as it did in 2007 and 2009, the last two times Japan also participated in the Malabar Exercise. While India is keen on strengthening relations with Japan, it is wary of being seen as part of an alliance designed to contain China. However, despite attempts by both countries to improve relations, there are enduring tensions over an unresolved border dispute. This means that India will continue to cultivate a closer security relationship with Japan. According to C. Raja Mohan, a former assistant chief of India’s naval staff, “India is hedging its bets by taking its relations with both China and Japan forward.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat