India, Japan and United States to hold A large-scale trilateral naval exercise
According to reports, the Maritime Self Defense Forces said in a press release on Tuesday, The large-scale exercises, called Malabar and scheduled to run through June 17, are part of an annual event that since last year has included Japan as a permanent member.
The drills, which will focus on anti-submarine warfare and air-defense training, are likely to bolster ties between the three allies amid Beijing’s militarization of the disputed South China Sea and its repeated incursions into Japanese territorial waters in the East China Sea. The East China Sea is home to the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, which are also claimed by China, where they are known as the Diaoyus.
The drill, dubbed Malabar, is an annual event between the US and India, and Japan is joining it this year for the first time since 2007, Japan's ministry of defense said in a statement. Among the Japanese warships, which will practice submarine hunting and anti-aircraft defence, will be the Hyuga, one of the country's three new helicopter carriers. Last year, the drill was held in the Bay of Bengal near India.
Japan's southwestern island chain, which hosts the biggest concentration of US military personnel in Asia, blocks China's east coast access to the Western Pacific. Japan's military is reinforcing the islands with radar stations and anti-ship missile batteries.
Lying around 220km (137 miles) west of Taiwan are a group of uninhabited isles, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China, which are controlled by Tokyo and claimed by Beijing.
On Tuesday, China told the United States it should play a constructive role in safeguarding peace in the disputed South China Sea, as US secretary of state John Kerry called for talks and a peaceful resolution.
