TOKYO - A fleet of US, Japanese and Indian warships will hold a large-scale joint naval exercise over eight days from Friday in the Western Pacific, close to a Japanese island chain, part of which China claims.

As China pushes its territorial claims in the neighbouring South China Sea, Tokyo and Washington worry it will look to extend its influence into the Western Pacific, with a growing fleet of submarines and surface vessels to ply distant oceans.

The drill, dubbed Malabar, is an annual event between the US and India, and Japan is joining it this year for the first time since 2007, Japan's Ministry of Defense said in a statement.