Indian Navy demonstrates global reach with simultaneous operations from Atlantic to Pacific

The Indian Navy has conducted an intensive series of bilateral and multilateral engagements from September to November 2026, deploying ships almost simultaneously across the Indian Ocean, Western Pacific, Mediterranean and North Atlantic. The operations span partnerships with neighbours, ASEAN states, Gulf and African nations, European navies and Indo-Pacific partners, showing the Indian Navy's expanding operational endurance and its role as a preferred security partner in the Indian Ocean Region.

Neighbourhood

In the Bay of Bengal and immediate neighbourhood, activities began with the India–Myanmar Coordinated Patrol off Yangon in early September. The 13th Sri Lanka–India Naval Exercise (SLINEX) followed at Visakhapatnam, incorporating special forces drills, air operations and replenishment at sea. A maiden BIMSTEC Maritime Security Exercise was held at Sri Vijayapuram in late October, succeeded by the humanitarian assistance exercise Rahat Mitra with Myanmar at Chennai. The eighth edition of the India–Myanmar Naval Exercise (IMNEX-26) is currently underway at Visakhapatnam, involving Myanmar’s UMS King Sin Phyu Shin alongside Indian ships INS Rana and INS Sumedha.

East Asia/Pacific

Further east, under the ASEAN–India Year of Maritime Cooperation, INS Mysore joined Exercise Samudra Laksamana with Malaysia at Lumut. INS Sahyadri and INS Kulish took part in the ADMM-Plus Maritime Security Joint Cooperation Activity at Subic Bay, Philippines, before participating in the second ASEAN–India Maritime Exercise. The long-standing Singapore–India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX) was hosted at Visakhapatnam in October.

INS Sahyadri later sailed to Vladivostok for Exercise INDRA with the Russian Navy, then joined a bilateral drill with the Republic of Korea Navy at Busan, before Exercise MALABAR with the United States, Japan and Australia at Yokosuka.

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West/Mediterranean

In the West and Mediterranean, INS Trishul conducted an extended deployment that included a passage exercise with the Egyptian Navy off Alexandria, Exercise VARUNA with France at Toulon, a port call at Valencia and Exercise KONKAN with the Royal Navy off Plymouth. The ship subsequently participated in Exercise Naseem Al Bahr with Oman and has just concluded a port call at Safaga Naval Base in Egypt, featuring discussions on Red Sea security, joint diving training and visits to Egyptian naval units.

The sail training ship INS Sudarshini called at Livorno, Italy, while INS Tarkash exercised with the Kenyan Navy at Mombasa and joined the trilateral IBSAMAR exercise with Brazil and South Africa off Simon’s Town.
These concurrent deployments require substantial logistic support and planning. By both hosting partners in Indian waters and projecting presence to distant theatres, the Navy has reinforced professional interoperability in areas ranging from visit-board-search-seizure drills and explosive ordnance disposal to disaster response.