Ten exercises on three continents in one month: what India's forces were rehearsing for

Why rehearse with someone else's forces?

In a crisis, ships from different navies may have to share radio channels, refuel each other or hunt the same submarine. Aircraft may have to share the same sky. If they have never practised it, they fumble.

Exercises are rehearsals, so that the first time is not the real time.

In October 2026 India's Army, Navy and Air Force ran at least ten such rehearsals with partners in India, Europe, East and Southeast Asia and southern Africa, according to Ministry of Defence releases.^124671011

In the air: seven air forces over the desert

Tarang Shakti 2026, hosted by the Air Force at Jodhpur from 26 September to 12 October, brought the air forces of Australia, Bangladesh, France, Germany, Sri Lanka, the UAE and the United States, with 32 more nations watching as observers.¹

Indian Tejas fighters and Prachand combat helicopters flew. The ministry said more than 20,000 people came to the open day. The Defence Minister addressed the participants on 10 October.¹¹⁴¹⁷

At sea: both sides of the world at once

In the same weeks the Navy was in three oceans. INS Trishul exercised with the Royal Navy's HMS Sutherland off Plymouth in Britain from 8 to 15 October, including submarine hunting and weapon firings.²

INS Tarkash was off South Africa for IBSAMAR IX with Brazil and South Africa, which ended at Simon's Town on 20 October. INS Sahyadri exercised with Russia's navy at Vladivostok, then sailed to Busan in South Korea, arriving on 26 October.⁴³⁵⁸

Closer to home, SIMBEX with Singapore ran from 21 to 26 October off Visakhapatnam. It was the 33rd edition of an exercise that began in 1994.⁷¹²

On land: mountains, coasts and jungles

Mountain Guardian with the UAE trained 92 soldiers in mountain warfare at Chaubatia in Uttarakhand, including drone operations and surveillance.⁶

AUSTRAHIND with Australia put about 120 soldiers from each army through island and coastal operations at Thiruvananthapuram. Garuda Shakti, with Indonesia's special forces, began on 27 October in Banyuwangi, focused on jungle operations.¹⁰¹¹

The turn: from taking part to taking charge

One handover in Bahrain changed the picture. On 14 October the Navy gave up command of Combined Task Force 154, a multinational training force it had led since 11 February 2026.¹³

It was the first time an Indian Navy contingent had commanded a Combined Maritime Forces task force. In that time, the ministry said, it ran more than 7,800 training hours with personnel from 39 countries. India was not just joining the rehearsal. It was running it.¹³

A first in India's own waters

The month ended with another first. On 30 October the inaugural BIMSTEC Maritime Security Exercise began, bringing together the seven nations around the Bay of Bengal: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.⁹

It is hosted by the Andaman and Nicobar Command in the islands, close to the Bay of Bengal sea lanes. Sri Lanka's navy said its ship SLNS Gajabahu arrived to take part.⁹¹⁶¹⁵

What exercises cannot tell you

Exercises show intent and familiarity, not fighting power. The releases describe what was practised but give no verdict on how well it went, and the services do not publish one.

The releases also do not list every ship and aircraft, and we could not confirm from an official source how many Indian personnel took part in the BIMSTEC exercise.