India, Japan, US, Australia Hold First Malabar Naval Exercise Off Australia

Vice admiral Saito Akira Commander in Chief of Japan Self Defense Fleet, Rear Admiral Christopher Smith, Commander Australian Fleet, Vice Admiral Dinesh Tripathi Commanding in Chief of India's Western Naval Command, and Vice Admiral Karl Thomas, Commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet attend to media in Sydney on Aug. 10, 2023. Kirsty Needham/Reuters

SYDNEY—India, Japan, the United States, and Australia will hold the Malabar navy exercise off the coast of Sydney on Friday, the first time the war games previously held in the Indian Ocean have taken place in Australia.

Japanese and Indian navy vessels stopped in Pacific Island countries Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea on the way to Sydney, highlighting the strategic importance of the region at a time of friction between China and the United States.