"It is an opportunity with a focus on the Indo-Asia Pacific region and maritime nature of all three countries. It is really an opportunity for the three countries to work together for cooperation and security in the region," the official told reporters here via teleconferencing from the nuclear-powered supercarrier USS Ronald Reagan that is currently operating in the South China Sea, said this year's exercise involved longer and broader planning processes.
The focus of this year's exercise, held in two phases between June 10 and 17, was on basic submarine warfare with the participation of more assets.
"We focused mostly on basic inter-submarine warfare, trying to increase complexity with the number of assets that were participating from aircraft to ships to personnel," he said.
The interaction with the US official came on a day an international tribunal ruled against China's claims to rights in South China Sea, backing a case brought by the Philippines.
China's expansive claims over South China Sea have been contested by several countries including the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan.
The US official, however, skipped a question about Chinese interest in interoperability between the three navies during the Malabar exercise.
"That question is better asked to the Chinese side. We were focused on our ability to operate together," he said.
To a follow-on question about how far the Chinese ships were during the drill, he said: "We were focused on how we were operating together as a unit."
A Chinese navy reconnaissance ship had entered Japanese territorial waters while tailing two Indian naval ships participating in the exercise.
The Dongdiao-class intelligence vessel was spotted by a Japanese P-3C patrol aircraft to the west of Kuchinoerabu island.
India was represented during the exercise by stealth frigates INS Satpura and INS Sahyadri, corvette INS Kirch and tanker INS Shakti along with the vessels from the US Navy and the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF).
The harbor phase of the exercise was held from June 10 to 13 off the Japanese city of Sasebo and the sea phase in the Pacific Ocean from June 14 to 17.
The Indian and US navies have annually conducted annual Malabar exercise since 1992. Japan had taken part in last year's exercise in the Bay of Bengal.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had said last month that Japan was now a permanent member of Malabar exercise.
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