India, US, Japan to hold trilateral maritime exercise in July

The maritime forces of India, the US and Japan will participate in a trilateral exercise in the Bay of Bengal, which will possibly be held next month.
A statement by the US embassy said the drill is the latest in a continuing series of exercises that has grown in scope and complexity over the years "to address the variety of shared threats to maritime security in the Indo-Asia Pacific".
Aimed at enhancing the working relationship between the maritime forces of the three countries, especially in the Indo-Pacific region, the exercise will feature both ashore and at-sea training with a focus on high-end warfighting skillsets.

The drill will cover activities like combined carrier strike group operations, maritime patrol and reconnaissance operations, surface and anti-submarine warfare.
It will also include aspects like medical operations, damage control, special forces, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), helicopter operations, and visit board search and seizure (VBSS) operations.
Each iteration of this exercise, it added, helps to increase the level of understanding between sailors and interoperability between the three navies.
"Indian, Japanese and US maritime forces look forward to working together again to build upon and advance their working relationship to collectively provide security and stability in the Indo-Asia Pacific region," the statement added.