INS Shivalik and Kadmatt Arrive at Guam for Malabar Exercise

• The two ships are scheduled to participate in the annual Exercise MALABAR-21, between navies of Australia, India, Japan and the USA.
• MALABAR series of maritime exercises commenced in 1992 as a bilateral Indo-US exercise and has grown over the years to include four prominent navies in the Pacific and Indian Ocean Region.
• For the first time in over a decade last year, the exercise saw participation of all four Quad countries.

Quadrilateral Security Dialogue

• Quad is a strategic forum between four nations, India, Australia, Japan and the United States, for exchanging strategic intelligence and conducting joint military exercises.
• The grouping was first mooted by then Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2007. * However, the idea couldn’t move ahead with Australia pulling out of it, apparently due to Chinese pressure.
• In 2017 at the ASEAN summit in Manila, all four former members agreed to revive the quadrilateral alliance.
• Officially, the grouping was thought of as a space to cooperate for safeguarding joint security and other interests in the Indo-Pacific region.
• However, observers say that the Quad is geared to counter China’s military and economic rise seen in recent decades.

Indian Navy Ships Shivalik and Kadmatt

• These are the latest indigenously designed and built, multi-role Guided Missile Stealth Frigate and Anti-Submarine Corvette respectively.
• They form part of the Indian Navy`s Eastern Fleet based at Visakhapatnam under the Eastern Naval Command.
• The two ships are equipped with a versatile array of weapons and sensors, can carry multi-role helicopters, and represent the maturation of India`s warship-building capabilities.