India to join US Navy-hosted RIMPAC drill

A source in India’s security establishment has confirmed India’s participation in the world’s biggest naval exercise — the US Navy-hosted RIMPAC — while refusing to toe the West’s line to categorically condemn Russia on the military action in Ukraine, reports Sanjib Kr Baruah.

New Delhi: India will take part in the about 27-nation maritime exercise “Rim of the Pacific” exercise, or RIMPAC, billed as the world’s largest maritime drill, scheduled most likely in June-July, a source in India’s security establishment confirmed to ETV Bharat on condition of anonymity.

The official source also added that Indian representation was present in the US Navy’s 3rd Fleet-hosted final planning conference (FPC) for RIMPAC 2022 that was held at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam from March 21-24, 2022.

The Indian Navy and the US Navy are still tight-lipped about making public the names of participating countries in the 28th edition of the biennial RIMPAC to be held in both Hawaii and San Diego. But a US Navy release had said that RIMPAC 22 will witness about 27 “like-minded” partner nations who have committed 41 ships, four submarines, more than 170 aircraft, and about 25,000 personnel.

Indicating the extensiveness of the upcoming mammoth exercise, it said: “The size and scope of RIMPAC 2022 are expected to more closely resemble the 2018 iteration following a scaled-back version in 2020, but with COVID mitigation measures in place.”

India’s participation would mean this will be the country’s first RIMPAC participation after India-China hostilities broke out on the LAC from April 2020 onwards that resulted in massive deployment of about 100,000 troops and military equipment on both sides of the disputed border. India and China’s ties have worsened particularly after the violent Galwan incident of June 15, 2020, that saw at least 24 lives being lost.

Meanwhile, Russia’s military action in Ukraine has ironically positioned India and China in a small group of countries that have refused to unconditionally condemn Russia. India’s position on Ukraine has been described by US President Joe Biden as “shaky” even as India continues to be part of the “Quad” or the “Quadrilateral Security Dialogue”, understood to be an anti-China platform along with the US, Australia and Japan.

At the same time, India is also a member of BRICS, a grouping comprising Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa representing more than 40 percent of humanity.

The visit of Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister and state counselor to New Delhi on Thursday and Friday (March 24-25) is being construed as an attempt by China to get PM Narendra Modi to attend the upcoming BRICS summit in China in person.

China was part of the 2014 and 2016 editions of RIMPAC, but the invitation was taken back in the 2018 exercise due to China’s belligerent activity in the South China Sea.

India had last taken part in the exercise in 2018 while the Covid pandemic had forced the organizers to scale down the event in 2020 where only 10 nations had taken part. India first participated in RIMPAC in 2014 when it sent the INS Sahyadri, an indigenously built Shivalik Class stealth multirole frigate. In 2016, it deployed the INS Satpura for the event. In 2018, it was again the INS Sahyadri.

Before 2014, the Indian Navy was an observer for the 2006, 2010 and 2012 editions of the exercise.

First begun in 1971 as an annual exercise by the US, Australia, and Canada, RIMPAC became a biennial event in 1974. The exercise aims to develop joint operational capability between the navies of participating nations so that a collective response can be mobilized to counter maritime threats.

The drill has three phases—an “in-port” phase, a “force integration” phase and a series of scenario-driven “free” exercises—including live-fire gunnery, missile operations, anti-surface warfare, undersea warfare, naval manoeuvres and air-defence exercises.