India, US, Japan to hold joint maritime security exercise

New Delhi, June 15 (IANS) Maritime forces from India, Japan and the US would participate in Malabar 2017, a joint mid-summer exercise aimed at addressing shared threats to maritime security in the Indo-Asia Pacific region.

The exercise involving naval ships, aircraft and personnel from the three countries will feature in both ashore and at-sea training off India's eastern coast in the Bay of Bengal, a statement from US Embassy said on Thursday.

Training will focus on high-end war-fighting skill sets, combined carrier strike group operations, surface and anti-submarine warfare, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), helicopter operations, and visit board search and seizure (VBSS) operations, it said.

The exercise would also include medical operations, maritime patrol and reconnaissance operations, damage control exercises and subject matter expert and professional exchanges.

Malabar 2017 is the latest in a continuing series of exercises that has grown in scope and complexity over the years, the US Embassy said.

"Indian, Japanese and US 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," the embassy said.

"Each iteration of this exercise helps to increase the level of understanding between our sailors and interoperability between our three navies," it added.

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