Bay of Bengal to Red Sea: How Navy is building partnerships across three seas
In just a few weeks, the Indian Navy has worked with partners across a long arc, from the Bay of Bengal to the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Pacific. The three latest engagements, with Myanmar, Egypt and Oman, show how naval diplomacy has become routine business.On the eastern coast, the 8th edition of the India-Myanmar Naval Exercise (IMNEX-26) began at Visakhapatnam on November 10 and runs until November 14.
Myanmar Navy Ship UMS King Sin Phyu Shin arrived for the exercise with INS Rana and INS Sumedha, and the opening ceremony was held onboard INS Rana. The harbour phase has professional interactions, Subject Matter Expert Exchanges (SMEEs), cross-deck visits and sporting events, and the sea phase will include coordinated operations and tactical manoeuvres. The series began in 2018, and the same Myanmar frigate was at Visakhapatnam for the Milan exercise in 2024.
It follows SLINEX-26 with Sri Lanka at the same port in September, which makes this the second neighbourhood exercise of the autumn.Across the Arabian Sea and beyondOn the other side of the Arabian Sea, INS Surat reached Muscat on November 8 for the 15th edition of Naseem Al Bahr with the Royal Navy of Oman. The harbour phase covered exchanges on Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), mine countermeasure operations and hydrography.
At sea, INS Surat and the Omani vessel Al-Mu'azzar practised Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) drills and cross-deck operations.Further west, INS Trishul concluded a port call at Safaga in Egypt on November 9. Its commanding officer called on Rear Admiral MD Abd El Maksoud, Commander, Red Sea Naval Base, for talks on maritime security in the Gulf of Suez and the importance of the Red Sea.
The crew visited Egyptian corvette ENS Port Said and took part in joint diving training. The visit builds on the 11th India-Egypt Joint Defence Committee meeting in Cairo in April, the defence cooperation memorandum signed in September 2022 and the Strategic Partnership of 2023. Trishul's deployment has already taken it through Exercise Varuna with the French Navy at Toulon and Exercise Konkan-26 with the Royal Navy off Plymouth.Reaching the PacificBeyond the Indian Ocean, INS Sahyadri represented India at Malabar 2026, which opened in Yokosuka, Japan, last week.
The frigate arrived after exercising with the South Korean Navy at Busan, and earlier took part in Exercise INDRA-2026 with the Russian Navy at Vladivostok.All of these exchanges fit the government's MAHASAGAR vision, short for Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions. They also sit alongside real operations. On November 2, INS Kolkata, with Indian Air Force support, rescued 20 crew from the hijacked Iranian fishing vessel Azini off Somalia, more than 3,000 km from Mumbai.
