India-Japan, anti-submarine exercise started in the Indian Ocean 

The Marine of India and Japan began an anti-submarine drill in the Indian Ocean yesterday which will end on October 31st. The operations take place in the Arabian Sea and involve a long-range P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft of the Indian Navy and two P-3 Orions of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. The P-3 Orions have reached Ins Hansa Air Base in the Indian state of Goa on the west coast. In July, the two Marines also participated, together with the United States, in the Malabar exercises, also focused on the identification of submarines. India is bolstering its armed force in response to China's intensifying presence in the Indian Ocean, as well as in the South China Sea. Maritime security has been at the center of all recent bilateral and multilateral talks by the Indian Defense Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, from those with the United States (James Mattis) to those with France (Florence Parly). Last week the Conference of Navy Commanders approved a new naval and air resource deployment scheme in the Indian Ocean region, extending from the Perisco Gulf and Gulf of Aden to the Strait of Malacca and Sunda Strait, with ships from war ready to face any operational need, from conventional threats to maritime terrorism, from piracy to humanitarian disasters. The Indian Navy, which currently has 138 warships and 235 airplanes and helicopters, aims to reach 212 and 458 respectively by 2027. As part of the vision known as Sagar (Security and growth for all in the region, Security and growth for all in the region), the armed force is updating the military infrastructure in the territory of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelagos, in a strategic position given the proximity to the main trade routes; it also intensified its collaboration with other navies, through joint exercises and patrols, training initiatives and exchanges of supplies. The “Act East” strategy looks to the expansion of ties to the East, with Japan and the ASEAN countries, the Association of Southeast Asian nations, in particular Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.