News: The Ministry of Defence(MoD) has announced that Australia will be participating in the naval exercise ‘Exercise Malabar’.
Facts:
- Exercise Malabar: It is an annual exercise which began in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between India and the U.S.Then it got expanded into a trilateral format with the inclusion of Japan in 2015.
- Aim: To strengthen cooperation and enhance interoperability based on shared values and principles.
- Significance of Joining of Australia: The joining of Australia will effectively mean that all the four member countries of the ‘Quad’ or Quadrilateral coalition will be participating in the Malabar Exercise.
Additional Facts:
- Quadrilateral Security Dialogue(QSD): It is the strategic dialogue between four countries viz. India, United States, Japan and Australia.
- Origin: It was originally initiated in 2007 but later disbanded with withdrawal of Australia.It was later revived in 2017.
- Objective: The Quad is viewed as a group of four democracies with a shared objective to ensure and support a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.
