Why in news?  In a step further in the expanding India-ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) military cooperation, the maiden ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise (AIME) is set to begin, with war games in South China Sea.

Highlights:

• The Navy chief, Admiral R. Hari Kumar, is in Singapore for the exercise as well as to take part in the International Maritime Defence Exhibition (IMDEX-23) and International Maritime Security Conference (IMSC) being hosted by Singapore.
• Indian Naval Ships Satpura and Delhi will be the participants from India
• “AIME-2023 will provide an opportunity for Indian Navy and ASEAN navies to work together closely and conduct seamless operations in the maritime domain.
• The ‘Harbour Phase’ of the exercise is scheduled to be held at Changi Naval Base from May 2 to 4 and ‘Sea Phase’ from May 7 to 8 in the South China Sea.
• The ships, during their port call at Singapore, will also participate in IMDEX-23 and IMSC .

About IMDEX

• The inaugural edition of the naval and maritime defence event IMDEX was held in 1997 and has since been expanding year on year. There are about 50 delegations this year

About ASEAN:

• It is a regional grouping that promotes economic, political, and security cooperation.
• It was established in August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the founding fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
• Its chairmanship rotates annually, based on the alphabetical order of the English names of Member States.
• ASEAN countries have a total population of 650 million people and a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of USD 2.8 trillion.

Members:

• ASEAN brings together ten Southeast Asian states – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – into one organisation.