What’s in the news?

• The 4th edition of the biennial India and Japan naval exercise JIMEX-20 is under way in the North Arabian Sea. 
• JIMEX series of exercises commenced in January 2012 with a special focus on maritime security cooperation. The last edition of JIMEX was conducted in October 2018 off Visakhapatnam, India. 
• Maritime cooperation has significantly increased between the two sides with focus on information sharing and Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and Indo-Pacific.
• The drills come after Indian and Australian navies conducted a passage exercise in the eastern Indian Ocean Region (IOR) from September 23-24.

Reference:

1. https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/india-japan-navies-match-skills-in-northern-arabian-sea/article32708591.ece