NEW DELHI: The first phase of the Malabar exercise featuring the navies of India, US, Japan and Australia will take place from November 3 to 6, officials said on Friday.
The second phase is scheduled to take place from November 17 to 20 in the Arabian Sea, they said.
This will be the first time in 13 years the four nations — collectively known as Quad — will join forces for the mega war games.
Earlier this month, India had announced that Australia will participate in the naval exercise, a move that will bring the four key partners in the Indo-Pacific region together.
The invitation by India to the Australian navy for the exercise next month came two weeks after the foreign ministers of the Quad held extensive talks in Tokyo with a focus on enhancing their cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, a region that has been witnessing increasing Chinese military assertiveness.
China has been uncomfortable with the informal coalition of the four democracies, which was first formed in 2004.
China had earlier "taken note" of Australia's inclusion in the drill and underlined that military cooperation should be "conducive" to regional peace and stability.
(With inputs from agencies)