US senators support India's decision to invite Australia for annual Malabar naval exercises

Fourteen United States Senators have written a letter to the Indian envoy to US Taranjit Singh Sandhu, supporting India's decision to invitee Australia for the annual Malabar naval exercises that are likely to take place in November.

The Malabar exercises and quad have four-members namely the US, Australia, Japan, and India.

"We write in strong support of India’s decision to formally invite Australia to participate in the annual Exercise Malabar." the senators wrote in the joint letter.

 "Almost three decades ago, the Malabar Exercise acted as a launching pad for increased US-Indian relations. We hope that Japan’s inclusion in the exercise, and now Australia’s, will have a similar effect, strengthening cooperation among the Quad as we collectively defend our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific." the letter further added.

The Malabar annual naval exercise started out as a bilateral exercise between India and the United States. Then Japan joined in 2015, and subsequently, Australia too participated in the exercises in 2007.

"It represents a security forum for like-minded democracies to preserve and promote the rules-based order in the region through shared commitments and close collaboration." the letter informed about the Quad grouping.

They wanted the Quad grouping amidst Chinese aggressiveness in the region and across the world.

In the face of China’s rising military and economic assertiveness, strengthening of the Quad has become increasingly important and as the world addresses the fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, China has opportunistically looked to expand its military footprint across the Indo-Pacific. From the South China Sea to the Himalayas, Beijing continues to use methods of intimidation and territorial aggression to test the resolve of regional actors." the letter stated.

The fourteen senators who wrote the letter are: Christopher A Coons, John Cornyn, Mark R Warner, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, James Lankford, Thom Tillis, Dan Sullivan, Marsha Blackburn, Kevin Cramer, Martha McSally, Josh Hawley, Kelly Loeffler. 

Beijing calls the grouping as anti-China and has been calling it Asian Nato.

The quad came together in the aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami which was one of the worst natural disasters