For a practice in the S China Sea, three Indian ships arrive in the Philippines
Three Indian Navy vessels, INS Delhi, INS Shakti, and INS Kiltan, have arrived in Manila for a four-day visit that would include a South China Sea “maritime partnership exercise.”
Since December, there have only been two such exercises between the Philippines and India. Additionally, the disagreement over marine rights in the disputed South China Sea, which is rich in hydrocarbons, is a current source of friction between China and the Philippines.
The US, Japan, and Australia—all three allies with India in the Quadrilateral, or the Quad—joined the Philippines last month to conduct what they called Maritime Cooperative Activity (MCA) in the South China Sea.
Additionally, since India began supplying Manila with the 300-kilometer-range BrahMos missile, this is the first drill between the two countries.
One important actor in the area is the US. The US State Department said in March that it supported the Philippines in the face of China’s “provocative actions” against legitimate Philippine naval operations in the South China Sea, as tensions between the two countries became more intense.
