INS Vagir, the fifth of the Scorpene or Kalvari-class diesel-electric submarines that was commissioned in January this year, will participate in various exercises with Royal Australian Navy (RAN) units on the west coast of Australia after arriving at Fremantle on Sunday.
“This is the maiden deployment of an Indian submarine to Australia. It showcases the Indian Navy’s capability and professional acumen to undertake sustained submarine operations at extended ranges from the base port for prolonged durations,” Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said on Saturday.“Concurrently, on the east coast of Australia, Indian warships and aircraft are taking part in the Malabar exercise with the navies of the US, Japan and Australia from August 11 to 21,” he added.
India has deployed guided-missile destroyer INS Kolkata, multi-mission frigate INS Sahyadri and a P-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft for the quadrilateral Malabar exercise. This will be followed by a bilateral exercise between India and Australia called “AUSINDEX” from August 22 to 24.
The annual Malabar exercise, which started as a bilateral endeavour between India and the US in 1992 and now includes Japan and Australia as regular participants, is being conducted for the first time off Australia. The aim is to further bolster military interoperability among the four countries amid China’s continuing aggressive moves in the Indo-Pacific.
India has inked reciprocal military logistics agreements, which provide for refuelling and berthing facilities for each other’s warships and aircraft, with the other three Quad countries. While India has forged an expansive defence cooperation with the US over the last two decades, it has also steadily cranked up bilateral military ties with Japan and Australia now.
India and Australia have also shed their earlier inhibitions in the face of China continuing to make strategic inroads into the Indian Ocean Region with a Navy that is the world’s largest with 355 warships and submarines.