NEW DELHI: India and Japan are now conducting the bilateral `JIMEX’ naval combat exercise in the Bay of Bengal, even as an Indian warship and maritime patrol aircraft have also reached Australia to take part in the multi-nation `Kakadu’ wargames there.
The two exercises are a reminder of the way India has stepped up defence ties with the other two `Quad’ countries of Japan and Australia in a major way, which add to the already existing flurry of exercises with the US every year.
At the ongoing sixth edition of JIMEX, Japan deployed its helicopter carrier Izumo and guided-missile destroyer Takanami. India, in turn, has fielded the multi-purpose stealth frigate INS Sahyadri and anti-submarine warfare corvettes INS Kadmatt and INS Kavaratti, along with MiG-29K fighters, helicopters and patrol aircraft.
“The Japanese ships are led by Rear Admiral Hirata Toshiyuki, commander of the Escort Flotilla Four, while Eastern Fleet commander Rear Admiral Sanjay Bhalla is heading the Indian flotilla,” an officer said.
“JIMEX seeks to consolidate the high degree of interoperability that exists between maritime forces of the two countries, through complex exercises in the surface, sub-surface and air domains,” he added.
The Indian stealth frigate INS Satpura and a long-range P-8I maritime patrol aircraft, in turn, are now at Darwin for the two-week Kakadu exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Navy. Both Japan and Australia are, of course, now regular participants in the long-standing top-notch Malabar naval exercise between India and the US.
