Military Exercises of India

India participates in numerous military exercises in a year. There are domestic, bilateral and multilateral exercises held involving one or the tri-services of the country. Read here to know about the major military exercises of India.

The Indian Navy and the UK Royal Navy have begun Exercise KONKAN-25 off India’s western coast, underscoring two decades of growing maritime cooperation and operational interoperability.

India is building versatility by participating in exercises across different terrains, desert (Rajasthan), mountains (Meghalaya/Nepal), islands (Maldives), maritime zones, and snow/cold weather (Japan, Mongolia).

Table of Contents

Domestic Military Exercises

These are internal exercises conducted within the country to test inter-service coordination, preparedness, and operational readiness.

Exercise	Conducted By	Objective / Description
Gagan Shakti	Indian Air Force (IAF)	Largest IAF exercise testing full-spectrum air operations, including joint ops with Army and Navy.
Bharat Shakti	Tri-Service	Showcases joint warfare capabilities with indigenous weapons at Pokhran.
Vayu Shakti	Indian Air Force	The biennial firepower demonstration focuses on precision strikes and combat readiness.
Dakshin Shakti	Southern Command (Army)	Tri-service integrated exercise simulating real war scenarios in the southern coastal region.
Sudarshan Shakti	South Western Command (Army + IAF)	Joint combat readiness and integration of air-land battle capabilities.
Poorvi Shakti	Eastern Command	Defence preparedness in Eastern border regions.
Brahma Shakti	Northern Command	Strategic preparedness in the border areas of J&K and Ladakh.
TROPEX (Theatre Level Operational Readiness Exercise)	Indian Navy	Annual large-scale exercise testing the Navy’s operational readiness with Army and Air Force integration.
Sea Vigil / Coastal Vigil	Indian Navy & Coast Guard	Nation-wide coastal security exercise with 13 coastal states & UTs.
Sampriti Shakti	Tri-Service / Civil Agencies	Coordination between the Armed Forces, NDMA, and NDRF during natural disasters.

Bilateral Military Exercises

Army Exercises

Exercise	Partner Country	Focus / Objective
Yudh Abhyas	United States	Counter-insurgency and interoperability.
Vajra Prahar	United States (Special Forces)	Joint special operations, counter-terror drills.
Mitra Shakti	Sri Lanka	Counter-insurgency and peacekeeping.
Surya Kiran	Nepal	Mountain warfare and anti-terror ops.
Dharma Guardian	Japan	Counter-terrorism and jungle warfare.
Sampriti	Bangladesh	Counter-terrorism, UN peacekeeping.
Nomadic Elephant	Mongolia	High-altitude warfare and cultural cooperation.
Indra	Russia	Joint counter-terrorism and security operations.
Hand-in-Hand	China	Counter-terrorism (currently suspended).
Ekuverin	Maldives	Counter-insurgency and HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief).
Al-Nagah	Oman	Joint counter-insurgency operations.
Harimau Shakti	Malaysia	Jungle warfare and military coordination.
Desert Cyclone	Egypt	Desert warfare and combat readiness.
Garuda Shakti	Indonesia	Special forces cooperation and jungle warfare.
Khanjar	Kyrgyzstan	Mountain warfare and special forces cooperation.

Naval Exercises

Exercise	Partner Country	Focus / Objective
MALABAR	US, Japan, Australia	Advanced naval operations, QUAD security cooperation.
VARUNA	France	Blue-water combat operations, carrier battle group coordination.
JIMEX	Japan	Anti-submarine, fleet operations.
SIMBEX	Singapore	Anti-surface and air warfare drills.
SLINEX	Sri Lanka	Maritime security, surveillance cooperation.
IBSAMAR	Brazil, South Africa	South-South maritime cooperation.
INDRA NAVY	Russia	Naval interoperability and sea control exercises.
Konkan	UK	Maritime security, sea denial and anti-piracy.
AUSINDEX	Australia	Submarine hunting and anti-air warfare.
NASEEM-AL-BAHR	Oman	Maritime partnership and interoperability.
IMEX	ASEAN Navies	Maritime safety and cooperation.
Zayed Talwar	UAE	Maritime interdiction and joint operations.

Air Force Exercises

Exercise	Partner Country	Focus / Objective
Cope India	United States	Air combat tactics and electronic warfare.
Garuda	France	Air-to-air combat and large-force engagements.
Indra Dhanush	United Kingdom	Air combat and strategic airlift operations.
Desert Flag	UAE (Multinational)	Participation in multinational air combat exercises.
Shakti Air (within Exercise Shakti)	France	Integrated air-ground coordination.
Eastern Bridge	Oman	Joint air combat training.

Multilateral Military Exercises

Exercise	Participating Nations	Domain / Objective
RIMPAC (Rim of the Pacific Exercise)	25+ Indo-Pacific nations (India participant)	Largest naval exercise globally; maritime interoperability.
Malabar	US, Japan, Australia, India	QUAD-focused, maritime security, freedom of navigation.
La Pérouse	India, France, Japan, Australia, US, UK, etc.	Indo-Pacific maritime domain awareness.
Milan	40+ nations (hosted by India)	Biennial naval exercise promoting regional cooperation.
Peace Mission	SCO members (India, China, Russia, Central Asian nations)	Counter-terrorism, SCO cooperation.
KAKADU	Hosted by Australia	Multinational maritime partnership.
Pitch Black	Australia, 17+ nations	Large-force air combat exercise.
Vostok / Tsentr / Kavkaz	Russia-led (varies yearly)	Strategic and joint operations; India participates periodically.
Desert Flag	UAE-hosted	Multinational air warfare exercise.
COBRA Gold	US-Thailand (India observer)	Indo-Pacific defence coordination and HADR.

Strategic Relevance for India

Maritime Focus: Strengthens India’s Indo-Pacific strategy and SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) vision.
Operational Readiness: Tests multi-domain coordination and inter-service integration.
Defence Diplomacy: Reinforces partnerships with QUAD, SCO, ASEAN, and IOR nations.
Capability Building: Promotes indigenisation, joint command operations, and disaster response coordination.