India, Japan hold naval exercises

NEW DELHI: Indian and Japanese warships conducted exercises in the Indian Ocean on Saturday, both navies announced. The Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force described the manoeuvres as designed to “promote mutual understanding” and consisted of four warships, two from each country. Naval exercises are now routine between India and Japan, but the timing of the present exercise will be bracketed with the military stand-off between India and China in Ladakh.

Vice-Admiral Pradeep Chauhan, director-general of the National Maritime Foundation, said: “We are using the exercises for strategic communications.” The navies were “not there for combat purposes but for signalling,” he added. “We need to be proximate with our friends and the Chinese know there is a direct ladder of escalation between Japan and the United States.”

The Indian navy training vessels, INS Rana and INS Kulush, were joined by the Japanese navy’s JS Kashima and JS Shimayuki. The Japanese embassy in New Delhi said this was the 15th such exercise in three years.

“The content of this exercise is tactical training and communications training,” said embassy spokesperson Toshihide Ando, “with no specific scenario.” The Japanese navy has become one of the principal partners of the Indian Navy. Indian ships exercise both bilaterally with their Japanese counterparts and as part of the Malabar Exercises, which include the US. Chauhan noted Indian Army deployments were “sector specific” but India needed to apply pressure across theatres.