Hyderabad: Taking a step towards strengthening the military relations with India, the President of the United States, Donald Trump announced Tiger Triumph, which led to curiosity among many nations. On the occasion of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to USA, Trump made this announcement about the military exercise.
This joint tri-service exercise of the two nations hints at a deepening bilateral relation. The US and Indian navies have been engaged in several military exercises from 1992 under the name of Malabar. The primary aim of these joint exercises is to understand each other’s strategic and security perspectives so that any special operations can be carried out in the future.
There are some special reasons for these exercises too. The Indian Navy is equipped with specialized skills to attack enemies who invade the subcontinent surrounded by oceans on three sides. The American Navy, which continuously aims to be the best and has a grip on Pacific and Atlantic regions, knows the strength of the Indian Navy. The strategies used in those oceanic conditions would be different from those in India. The US Navy cannot succeed with the same strategies across all geographies.
Keeping this in view, it is keen on conducting joint exercise with the Indian Navy. In the past 27 years, thousands of officers and crew have conducted several joint exercises. Submarines, fighter jets and various combatant ships from both the nations’ militaries have held these exercises successfully with mutual cooperation.
Besides military strategies; joint exercises on sea pollution, relocation assistance during disasters, attacks on pirates and implementation of laws have been conducted with the goal of providing fast assistance to the victims.
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Japan also became an official partner in the naval exercise Malabar. It realised the importance of major nations’ assistance in protecting its shores. Japan hosted Malabar 2007 and became a trilateral partner in 2015. Australia also took part in it. It regards the US-India navies as extra protection to its navy. As a result of Malabar, the military relations among India, Japan, US and Australia have strengthened.
Indo-Pacific command was established in the US military with focus on India’s strategies on the Indo-Pacific region. The US wants the neighbouring nations to be militarily equipped in order to protect the region. It is willing to supply the necessary technology to better equip those nations. Consequently, a deal was made with India to supply INS Jalashwa and P-8I.
China, who is enthusiastic to become a supreme power is irked with Malabar exercises. This joint exercise has become an obstacle to China, which is eyeing the Indian Ocean. Though China is a large country, it has a smaller coastline. In order to keep its naval troops closer to India, it chose Hambantota in Sri Lanka. It is maintaining cordial relations with the militaries of Bangladesh, Myanmar, Philippines and Africa. By helping in the construction of Gwadar port in Balochistan and establishing China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), it became an ally of Pakistan, which has always been anti-India. China believes that the US is thrashing its hopes of becoming a superpower through Malabar.
Till now, India held joint tri-services exercises named Indra with Russia. India and the US are engaged in a joint tri-services exercise for the first time, called Tiger Triumph. A total of 1,200 Indian and US personnel are participating in Tiger Triumph, which is being held from November 13-21. The exercise is being held in Kakinada and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Till now, all the three services have held separate joint-exercises but this time, the tri-services are collectively participating in the event. Experts are viewing this as a key milestone in India’s defence relations with the US.
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