The Indian Navy announced on Aug. 2 that it is sending a four-ship task force, made up of two destroyers and two corvettes, to the Western Pacific as part of India’s “Act East” policy. “In pursuit of the Act East policy and to enhance military cooperation with friendly countries, a Task Force of Indian Navy’s Eastern Fleet is scheduled to proceed on an overseas deployment to South East Asia, the South China Sea and Western Pacific from early August 2021 for over two months,” the Indian Navy said in an official statement, reported India Today. “The deployment of the Indian Navy ships seeks to underscore the operational reach, peaceful presence and solidarity with friendly countries towards ensuring good order in the maritime domain and to strengthen existing bonds between India and countries of the Indo Pacific,” the statement added.
During the deployment in the Indo Pacific, the ships are scheduled to participate in bilateral exercises with Vietnamese Peoples’ Navy, Republic of Philippines Navy, Republic of Singapore Navy, Indonesian Navy and Royal Australian Navy. Further, they would also participate in annual multilateral exercise MALABAR-21 alongside the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force, Royal Australian Navy and the United States Navy in Western Pacific (that is, the navies of all four of the “Quad” countries — ed.) the statement said.
