Japan and India hold joint naval exercise in Indian Ocean

India's INS Ranvijay guided-missile destroyer. (Photo/US Navy)

Facing a common threat from the Chinese maritime expansion, the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) and Indian Navy launched a joint naval exercise near the coast of Chennai, one of India's most populous cities, between Dec. 21-22, according to the Beijing Times.
The exercise in the Indian Ocean will help prepare both navies against enemy submarines and surface combat vessels, the Tokyo-based Kyodo News said. During the drill, the Indian Navy mobilized the INS Satpura, a Shivalik-class stealth multi-role frigate, INS Ranvijay, a Rajput-class guided-missile destroyer and INS Kuthar, a Khukri class corvette, while the JMSDF deployed its Maizuru-based Escort Flotilla 3 composed of two frigates, the JDS Ariake and JDS Setogiri.
The Hindu, a New Delhi-based paper, stated that another exercise will be launched by the two countries' respective coast guards near the coast of western Japan's Kochi prefecture. For the exercise, the Indian Coast Guard will send three vessels, one fixed-wing aircraft and one helicopter. It will be launched as an anti-piracy exercise, but analysts claim that the two nations will be considering China as the main potential threat to their maritime security, the Beijing Times said.
Fearing that the People's Liberation Army Navy may expand its sphere of influence into the Indian Ocean, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also expressed interest in buying a US-2 amphibious aircraft from Japan during his visit to Tokyo in May.
Japan meanwhile has been working to form an new partnership with India to contain the Chinese maritime expansion from east and south. Tokyo has also made strides to win support from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to condemn Beijing for the establishment of its new air defense identification zone.