Source: Privy Council No. 10
According to India's "Financial Express" reported on the 3rd, the Indian Navy is preparing for the "largest ever 'Milan' joint exercise" scheduled for the end of February, and it is said that there will be navies from more than 40 countries around the world participating.
As for the purpose of the exercise, a senior Indian official revealed that the focus of the exercise will be on ensuring the opening of sea lanes and freedom of navigation. "This is important because there is no way to stop China from continuing to bully in the waters of the Indian Ocean region other than helping each other."
To put it more bluntly, India organized this multinational joint exercise to target "China's infiltration in the Indian Ocean." This can also be seen in the list of countries participating in the exercise.
The report lists the countries participating in the exercises, which are mainly divided into these categories:
India's neighbors and ASEAN member states, such as Brunei, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Bangladesh, South Korea, Cambodia, etc.;
African States: Mozambique, Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Tanzania, Comoros, etc.;
GCC States: Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia;
India's traditional allies: Russia and France;
and the most critical partners: QUAD (Quad) and AUKUS member states: Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
In the eyes of the old driver, although the so-called "Milan" exercise jointly participated in by 46 countries sounds amazing in scale, and the number of participating countries even exceeds the famous US "Rim of the Pacific" series of exercises, according to the experience of the latter, such large-scale exercises participated by many countries look grand, in fact, most of the participating countries only take advantage of the opportunity to mix experience points, not only the number of ships dispatched is small, the content of the exercise is only based on simple formation navigation, maritime exchanges, humanitarian relief and disaster reduction, and only those countries that participate in the core exercise content. The real key is the amphibious landing, joint operations, and fleet air defense of its exercises.
As highlighted in the report, quad member states (Japan, the United States and Australia) and THE member states of AUKUS (the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States) will also participate in the exercise and will exercise interoperability and joint operations.
Obviously, these countries are the "core players" of the whole exercise.
In other words, in the "Milan" joint exercise, it is necessary to look at which ships the United States, Japan, Britain and Australia will send out, and what they will exercise, so as to truly reflect India's purpose of co-opting these "like-minded navies".
Another remark by the senior official also confirmed this conjecture, "Countries are looking for ways to stop China's expansion, which has led to a significant increase in naval exercises and interactions between navies in the region." India will expand certain forms of exercises, such as the Malabar exercise. It was one of the most complex naval exercises India has conducted with other countries. ”
Multinational ships participating in the Malabar 2021 joint exercise
The Malabar exercise, which is now a naval exercise held annually by the United States, Japan, Australia and India, is considered to have a strong anti-China color. For example, in the second phase of the Malabar 2021 exercise held in October 2021, the United States dispatched the aircraft carrier "Carl Vinson", the cruiser "Lake Champlain", the destroyer "Stockdale" and the P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft; the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force sent the helicopter carrier "Kaga" and the "Murayu" destroyer; India dispatched the "Lan Vijay", "Satpura" guided missile destroyer, anti-submarine patrol aircraft and a submarine; Australia sent the "Ballararet" frigate and "" USS Sirius supply ship. The contents of the exercises of the four navies include joint operations at sea, anti-submarine operations, air combat, live-fire, sea replenishment, cross-deck flight operations and maritime interception operation capabilities.
Therefore, whether it is the "Milan" joint exercise with the participation of the 46 navies or the expanded "Malabar" exercise, the core purpose of the Indian Navy is to strengthen the joint combat capability with the sea forces of the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom and Australia, so as to deter and even counter "China's expansion in the Indian Ocean".
Of course, whether india's goals can be achieved or not is another matter.