WW3 fears were sparked anew after Australia agreed to join a naval military drill with India, U.S. and Japan dubbed as the annual Malabar naval exercise.
With the rising tension between India and China and the latter's conflict with the U.S., Japan, and Australia over territorial disputes, experts believed the expanded joint naval exercise is aimed at China, which is seemingly a WW3 dry run.
Professor John Blaxland of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre of the Australian National University told the South China Morning Post (SCMP) that it is apparent that the intention of the joint naval exercise is joining arms against one common enemy--China., according to a report on the Express.
Blaxland further said that it is not hard to tell that China's antics are what drove these countries into each other's arms after having been previously reluctant to work with each other, further compounding WW3 fears.
India's invitation to Australia was backed by a bipartisan group of United States senators. They wrote a letter to India's Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Singh Sandhu commending the move and also extended an invitation for India to join the Blue Dot Network.
The Blue Dot Network is a collaboration led by the U.S. with Australia and Japan. It was created to counter the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of China and give support to private-sector-led infrastructure financing opportunities.
Should India accept the invitation, it would strengthen the Quad, a security alliance among India, Australia, Japan, and the U.S.
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According to the senators' letter to Sandhu, it has become essential for the Quad to strengthen their alliance further as China has not deterred from its economic assertiveness, aggressive territorial dispute, and military expansion.
The Malabar naval exercise, which has been held annually, was started in 1992 by the U.S. and India. Japan joined the navy drills in 2015.
WW3 fears may not be far off with Royal Australian Navy rear admiral James Goldrick seemingly confirming that Australia's participation in the Malabar naval exercises is aimed at restraining Beijing.
Goldrick told SCMP that how the Quad will further strengthen its alliance will depend on the actions that China will be taking further.
The rear admiral added that should China continue with its aggressions; then the Quad will be looking for ways to continue working together and present a united front in defending their shared interests.
China only has itself to blame for these countries' bonding against it, Blaxland said.
Canberra had been asking to join the Malabar naval exercise for three years already, and it is only now that India sent a formal invitation to Australia. Previously, it had avoided aligning with Australia because it did not want to offend Beijing.
The Indian Ministry of Defence released a statement saying that the participants of the Malabar naval drills are committed to a "rules-based international order" and "free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific."
Australia's foreign ministry's Marise Payne also said that the four Quad powers plan to "work together to uphold peace and stability across our region."
This is not the first time that fears of a WW3 happening surfaced. Ever since China laid claims to the oil-rich South China Sea, it had seemingly been preparing for a WW3.
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