India, US, Japan to hold joint naval exercises yearly

New Delhi

INDIA, Japan and the United States will hold joint naval exercises each year, Indian government sources said on Monday, as the three countries kicked off the first such drills in the Bay of Bengal in eight years, a move likely to concern China.

The last time New Delhi hosted multilateral drills in its waters in 2007 prompted disquiet in China where some saw it as a US-inspired security grouping on the lines of Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in Europe.