India to participate in RIMPAC military exercise from June 27; US disinvites China

NewsBharati    31-May-2018
Total Views |

New Delhi, May 31: As many as 26 countries, including India, will participate in the biennial Rim of the Pacific, RIMPAC military exercise from June 27 to August 2, in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. The Pentagon announced this on Wednesday.


 

Known as the world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC this year involves 47 surface ships, five submarines, 18 national land forces, and more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel.

Ahead of the announcement, the United States had disinvited China from RIMPAC, a move Beijing described as "unfortunate".

The countries participating in the exercise include Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom among others.

Four countries -- Brazil, Israel, Sri Lanka and Vietnam -- are participating in RIMPAC for the first time. The theme this year is "Capable, Adaptive, Partners." Participating nations and forces will exercise a wide range of capabilities and demonstrate the inherent flexibility of maritime forces, a media release from the US 3rd Fleet Public Affairs said.

The U.S. military has disinvited China from participating in RIMPAC. Citing actions in the South China Sea that run counter to international norms and a pursuit of free and open seas, Department of Defense spokesman Marine Lt. Col. Christopher Logan said the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) would not be participating in the exercise despite its participation in submarine safety and other non-warfighting components of the exercise in previous years.

“We have strong evidence that China has deployed anti-ship missiles, surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, and electronic jammers to contested features in the Spratly Islands region of the South China Sea. China’s landing of bomber aircraft at Woody Island has also raised tensions,” he continued.

“We believe these recent deployments and the continued militarization of these features is a violation of the promise that President Xi made to the United States and the World not to militarize the Spratly Islands.”