Manila: As many as 11 ships from the Philippines, Japan, Australia, Canada, and the USA sailed together in the South China Sea during Exercise Balikatan on Monday.
Ships from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force, Royal Australian Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, US Coast Guard and US Navy are participating in the multilateral maritime event during the exercise..
“Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the US military that represents the strength of our alliance, improves our capable combined force, and demonstrates our commitment to regional peace and prosperity,” the Philippine Navy stated while highlighting that the exercise addresses challenges, promotes regional stability and maritime security.
The US Navy asserted that the exercise demonstrates a collective commitment to ensuring maritime security across the Indo-Pacific.
The Balikatan, or shoulder-to-shoulder exercise, which runs till May 8, is being joined by a total of 17,000 personnel from seven countries, including Canada, France, Australia and New Zealand.
The military exercise is aimed at enhancing defence interoperability among the participants, including Japan’s Self-Defence Force (JSDF) which has joined the large-scale drill with Philippines and United States.
According to Japan’s leading Kyodo news agency, since 2012, the JSDF has participated in the disaster response aspect of the annual exercise and held only observer status. A defence pact between Japan and the Philippines that allows reciprocal visits of the two nations’ forces, which took effect last year, has expanded the fields of the exercises Japan can participate in.
On April 17, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force destroyer J S Ikazuchi sailed through the Taiwan Strait. The vessel is taking part in the Balikatan exercise till May 8.
Kyodo detailed that Tokyo had long refrained from sending MSDF vessels through the strait to avoid provoking Beijing, until September 2024, when the destroyer Sazanami became the first to do so. Two MSDF ships subsequently passed through the strait in February and June 2025.
(IANS)
