Fleet leaves for historic exercise

PORT BLAIR: A naval fleet, led by one of Indian Navy’s most potent destroyers, left the harbour here on Sunday on a long voyage that would not only set several new milestones for the Navy but also raise the discussion over China’s growing military might to new levels.

Over the next few months, the naval fleet of five ships would stage for the first time in 15 years an Indo-US naval exercise in the Pacific Ocean, an Indo-Russian naval exercise in Russian waters, and spend almost four months out in the sea. But most crucially, the fleet would carry out a historic trilateral exercise with US and Japan.

The Indo-US-Japan naval exercise is being played down by the Indians, but for strategic watchers it is another indicator that the three major players are intensifying their cooperation for various reasons, the key concern being the growing Chinese might.

On Saturday, Defence Minister AK Antony said India’s security initiatives are for its own security and refused to discuss China as a threat. But, the first-ever trilateral Indo-US-Japan naval exercise is an effort to increase the level of cooperation between the three who are both affected and concerned by the growing Chinese might. The Chinese have increased their defence budget this year, and are modernising its military.

India has been consistent in playing down any possibility of viewing the big neighbour as a threat, while trying to intensify cooperation with China. Navy officers said the five-ship fleet, led by INS Mysore as the lead ship, would begin their deployment first with Simplex, a joint exercise between the navies of Singapore and India. Later, the fleet will sail to the Pacific where the Malabar series, the Indo-US joint naval exercises started in 1993, would be held for the first time.