The U.S., India and Japan will hold joint naval exercises later this year in waters north of the Philippines, a move that is likely to irk nearby China as tensions rise over competing territorial claims in the region.
Adm. Harry Harris, head of U.S. Pacific Command, confirmed the location of the annual Malabar drills during a security conference in New Delhi on Wednesday. The proposed area lies just northeast of the South China Sea, where the U.S. has spearheaded efforts to patrol waters near to where China is building airstrips, lighthouses and ports to assert its claims.
"By being ambitious, India, Japan, Australia, the United States and so many other like-minded nations can aspire to patrol together anywhere international law allows," Harris said. No nation should perceive the patrols as a threat, he added.