INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
New Delhi: India and three other "Quad" countries -- US, Japan and Australia -- on Tuesday started the "Malabar" naval exercise in Bay of
Bengal even as China confirmed to another round of Corps Commanders meeting on Ladakh standoff and a mutual agreeable date is being worked
out.While India is trying to peacefully resolve the six month military stand-off with China through negotiations, it is also forming up
strategic alliances with other nations
This is reflected by India's invitation to Australia to participate in the Malabar Naval exercise and signing Basic Exchange and Cooperation
Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA) with US last week
States Navy (USN), Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF), and Royal Australian Navy (RAN) on Tuesday carried out anti-submarine warfare
operations, cross deck landings and seamanship manoeuvres at sea.Indian Navy ships Ranvijay, Shivalik, Shakti, Sukanya, and submarine
Sindhuraj are exercising with USS John S McCain, HMAS Ballarat, and JMSDF Ship JS Onami.China said on Tuesday that it hoped that the
quadrilateral Malabar exercise would be conducive to the regional peace and stability instead of the contrary
an anti-China grouping.While Australia wanted to be part of the Malabar exercise for some time now, India had been hesitant to invite it to
avoid any angry reaction from China.During the 7th round of Corps Commanders meeting, India and China on October 12 had agreed not to turn
differences into disputes and jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the border areas
Both sides had agreed to maintain dialogue and communication through military and diplomatic channels and arrive at a mutually acceptable
As per reports, Indian Army has received the initial consignment of extreme cold weather clothing from the USA for its troops deployed on
the China border.It said that the Indian Army maintains a stock of 60,000 of these extreme cold weather clothing sets for troops deployed in
entire Ladakh including both western fronts in Siachen and Eastern Ladakh sector
