An F/A-18 "Super Hornet" taking off from the deck of USS Carl Vinson super carrier

On Saturday, the Indian Navy held a crucial exercise with Japanese Navy in the Indian Ocean region, an area where Chinese naval vessels and submarines are making frequent forays, they said.
  • The Navy has increased its surveillance missions and beefed up operational deployment in the Indian Ocean region in the wake of India's seven-week bitter border standoff with China in eastern Ladakh, people familiar with the development said.

  • The Indian Navy is also ramping up its operational cooperation with various friendly naval forces like the US Navy and Japan Maritime Self Defence Force in view of the fast evolving regional security landscape, they said.

  • On Saturday, the Indian Navy held a crucial exercise with Japanese Navy in the Indian Ocean region, an area where Chinese naval vessels and submarines are making frequent forays, they said.

How China Is Encircling India

  • China has been strategically encircling India.

  • It has invested in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor that involves expressways from the Pakistan-China border down to the newly constructed deep-water port of Gwadar in Baluchistan.

  • Though the project has been mired with delays and cost overruns, the fact is that when operational, China will have a leased deep-water port in the Persian Gulf. It won’t be only for trade.

US Carriers Drill After Southeast Asian Nations Rebuke China

In the latest developments in the South China Sea, a pair of US Navy aircraft carrier strike groups are drilling together in a show of support to allies that comes on the heels of a strong statement issued by Southeast Asian leaders repudiating China's claims to virtually the entire waterway.

Amid India-China Standoff, Indo-Japan Navies Conduct Joint Training Exercise

  • Amid the ongoing Sino-Indian standoff in Ladakh, the Indian Navy and Japanese Maritime Self Defence Forces (JMSDF) conducted a joint training exercise in the Indian Ocean.

  • The exercise that concluded on Saturday was held in the backdrop of Japan defence minister Taro Kono expressing concern over not only China’s defence capabilities but also its intention in the Indo-Pacific region. This was the first such statement from Japan following Beijing’s aggressive posturing in parts of Asia over the past few months.

  • Coinciding with the Indo-Japan defence exercise, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) put out a statement that the South China Sea dispute should be resolved in line with international law, stressing on “the importance of non-militarisation and self-restraint”.

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