Navy joins exercises in South China Sea4Photo© timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Navy joins exercises in South China Sea

, 8 news, a view

Indian Navy on Thursday participated with the navies of the US, the Philippines and Japan in their first joint naval exercise in the disputed South China Sea, where China is flexing its muscle.

The vessels included Indian destroyer INS Kolkata and tanker INS Shakti, a guided missile destroyer from the US Pacific Fleet, Japanese aircraft carrier Izumo and the Philippines patrol vessel Andres Bonifacio, the US Navy said in a statement.

"Our team was really excited to take part in this multi-lateral event," Commander Andrew J Klug, commanding officer, USS William P Lawrence, said.