The Malabar exercise commences from November 3, 2020. It is a multilateral naval drill involving the servicemen of India, Australia, Japan and the United States. The quadrilateral event is considered crucial. It comes amid increasing geopolitical tensions with an array of nations aligning themselves against China over its "aggressive trade” policies, "expansionist agenda" and "persecution of religious and ethnic minorities. “Phase 1 of the exercise Malabar 20 involving participation by Indian Navy (IN), United States Navy (USN), Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF), and Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is set to commence off Visakhapatnam in Bay of Bengal from 3-6 November, 2020” Ministry Of Defence said in a statement issued on November 2. Watch the video to know why is the Malabar Exercise crucial.