List of Military Exercises of India 2023, Participating Counties

Domestic, Bilateral and Multilateral Exercises of Indian army with USA, Japan etc. Check the complete list of important Military Exercises of India 2023 for UPSC.

Table of Contents

Participation of friendly countries in joint military exercises results in positive operational interactions and enhances the capabilities of the armed forces in various warfighting areas.

The latest tactical and technological methods, procedures, and more are exchanged during such exercises. Although this is an ongoing process, suitable measures are taken occasionally to involve friendly nations and expand the scope of exercises based on mutual benefits and the strategic needs of the participating countries.

Military Exercises of India 2023

Indian army forces are represented by various units/battalions in such joint military exercises which are decided based on the nature and requirement of specific exercises. The amount spent varies depending on the extent of our involvement and the resources used in such exercises. Indian army forces participate in domestic exercises, bilateral exercises and multilateral exercises.

Exercise name	Country participated with India	Held at	Latest Date/Year/Edition
Al Nagah-III	Oman	Mahajan Field Firing Range, Bikaner	13th August 2012 4th Edition
Bold Kurukshetra	Singapore	Jodhpur Military Station	6 – 13 March 2023 13th Edition
Ekuverin	Maldives	Chaubatia, Uttarakhand	11 – 24 June 2023 12th Edition
Garuda Shakti	Indonesia	Karawang, Indonesia	November 2022 8th Edition
Hand in Hand	China	Umroi, Meghalaya	7th December 2019 8th Edition
Indra	Russia	Volgograd, Russia	August 2021 12th Edition
Khanjar	Kyrgyzstan	Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan	March 2023 10th Edition
Lamitye	Seychelles	Seychelles	March 2022 9th Edition
Maitree	Thailand	Umroi, Meghalaya	16th September 2019 14th Edition
Mitra Shakti	Sri Lanka	Ampara, Sri Lanka	October 2021 8th Edition
Multi-national FTX/Exercise Force Eighteen	18 ASEAN Plus countries	Pune, India	2nd March 2016
Nomadic Elephant	Mongolia	Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia	July 2023 15th Edition
KAZIND (Prabal Dostyk)	Kazakhstan	Umroi, Meghalaya	December 2022 6th Edition
Sampriti	Bangladesh	Jashore Military Station, Bangladesh	June 2022 10th Edition
Surya Kiran XIV	Nepal	Saljhandi, Nepal	December 2022 16th Edition
Yudh Abhyas	United States	Auli, Uttarakhand	October 2022 18th Edition

Indian Military Exercises

The Indian Military Exercises can be divided into three categories:

Domestic Exercise.
Bilateral Exercise.
Multilateral Exercise.

Domestic Exercises :

The purpose of the domestic military exercise is to improve internal engagements and intra-service and inter-service among all the forces. There are four major domestic military exercises of India namely

Gandiv Vijay
Paschim Lehar
Vayu Shakti
Vijay Prahar

Bilateral Exercises :

These military exercises are held between two countries.The following table provides you with a List of Joint Military Exercises of India including the Army, Navy and Air Force:

Participating Countries	Army/Navy/Air Force	Exercise Name
India and Australia	Army	AUSTRA HIND
India and Australia	Navy	AUSINDEX
India and Bangladesh	Army	SAMPRITI
	Navy	IN-BN CORPAT
	Air Force	Table Top Ex
India and China	Army	HAND IN HAND
India and France	Army	SHAKTI
	Navy	VARUNA
	Air Force	GARUDA
India and Indonesia	Army	GARUDA SHAKTI
	Navy	IND-INDO CORPAT
	Navy	SAMUDRA SHAKTI
India and Japan	Army	DHARMA GUARDIAN
India and Japan	Navy	JIMEX
India and Kazakhstan	Army	PRABAL DOSTYK
India and Kyrgyzstan	Army	KHANJAR
India and Maldives	Army	EKUVERIN
India and Mongolia	Army	NOMADIC ELEPHANT
India and Myanmar	Army	IMBEX
India and Myanmar	Navy	IMCOR
India and Nepal	Army	SURYA KIRAN
India and Oman	Army	AL NAGAH
	Navy	Naseem-al-Bahr
	Air Force	EASTERN BRIDGE-IV
India and Russia	Army	INDRA
	Navy	INDRA NAVY
	Air Force	INDRA
India and Seychelles	Army	LAMITIYE
India and Sri Lanka	Army	MITRA SHAKTI
India and Sri Lanka	Navy	SLINEX
India and Thailand	Army	MAITREE
	Navy	INDO-THAI CORPAT
	Air Force	SIAM BHARAT
India and United Kingdom	Army	AJEYA WARRIOR
	Navy	KONKAN
	Air Force	INDRADHANUSH-IV
India and USA	Army	YUDHABHAYAS & VAJRA PRAHAR
	Navy	MALABAR (Multilateral)
	Air Force	RED FLAG 16-1
	Air Force	Exercise COPE India 23.
India and Vietnam	Army	VINBAX

Multilateral Exercises

These military exercises involve the militaries of more than two countries.The following table provides you with a List of Multilateral Military Exercises:

Exercise Name	Participating Countries
RIMPAC (Rim of the Pacific Exercise, 26 Countries)	Australia Brunei Canada Chile China Colombia Denmark France Germany India Indonesia Italy Japan Malaysia Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Norway Peru Philippines South Korea Singapore Thailand Tonga United Kingdom United States
MALABAR (3 Countries)	India United States Japan
COBRA-GOLD	Asia-Pacific Countries
Samvedna	South Asian Region Nations
MILAN (Incepted by Indian Navy)	40 Countries sending their high-level delegations and warships

List of Indian Air Force Exercises

Indian Air Force Exercises
Exercise Name	Details	Participating Countries
Garuda	Bilateral Indo-French large force employment warfare exercise. Latest edition, Garuda 2019, hosted by FAF in Mont-de-Marsan, France. Aims to foster closer ties, promote interoperability through knowledge and experience exchange.	Indian Air Force (IAF) French Air Force (FAF)
Eastern Bridge	Bilateral joint air force exercise. Most recent edition, Eastern Bridge-V, took place at Air Force Base Masirah in Oman. Enhances interoperability and mutual operations between the two air forces. MiG-29 participated in an international exercise outside India for the first time.	Indian Air Force (IAF) Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO)
SIAM Bharat	Indo-Thailand Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Table Top Exercise. Aims to develop SOPs for planning and executing relief missions during natural disasters. Enhances interoperability for joint air operations in response to a crisis.	Indian Air Force (IAF) Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF)
Desert Eagle	Bilateral military exercise. Second edition, Desert Eagle II, held at Al-Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi. Involves air combat exercises and enhances cooperation between IAF Su-30 MKI and UAE AF’s Mirage 2000-9 and F-16 block 60. Previous participation in Desert Eagle I in 2008.	Indian Air Force (IAF) United Arab Emirates Air Force (UAE AF)
Red Flag	Two-week advanced aerial combat training exercise. Held several times a year at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska. Provides realistic air-combat training to military pilots and flight crew members from the US and allied countries. First held in 1975.	Indian Air Force (IAF) United States Air Force
Desert Knight-21	Bilateral air exercise. Held at Jodhpur Air Force Station in Rajasthan. Includes fielding of Rafale aircraft from both sides. Demonstrates growing interaction between India’s and France’s premier air forces. Aircraft from both nations participated, including Mirage 2000, Su-30 MKI, and more.	Indian Air Force and French Air Space Force

List of Indian Navy Exercises

Indian Navy Exercises
Exercise Name	Details	Participating Countries
SLINEX	Annual bilateral maritime exercise held between India and Sri Lanka. 8th edition took place in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, in October 2020. Aims to increase interoperability, mutual understanding, and share best practices for maritime operations.	Indian Navy (IN) Sri Lanka Navy (SLN)
INDRA Navy	Indo-Russia joint maritime exercise, 12th edition held in Volgograd, Russia, in August 2021. Focuses on counter-terror operations against international terror groups under the UN. Enhances cooperation and understanding between the two navies.	Indian Navy Russian Navy
Konkan	Bilateral naval exercise between India and the UK initiated in 2004. Held alternatively by both navies, aims for complexity and scale growth. Konkan 2021 held in the English Channel between INS Tabar and HMS Westminster.	Indian Navy United Kingdom Navy
Varuna	Bilateral maritime exercise, 19th edition (VARUNA-2021) held in the Arabian Sea. United Arab Emirates (UAE) participated for the first time. Focuses on shared values for freedom of seas and commitment to an open, inclusive Indo-Pacific and rules-based order.	Indian Navy French Navy
Naseem Al Bahr	Bilateral maritime exercise, 12th edition held in Mormugao Port, Goa, between India and Oman. Known as “Naseem-Al-Bahr” (sea breeze) since 1993. Aims to strengthen cooperation and enhance capabilities for maritime operations.	Indian Navy Royal Navy of Oman
Sahyog HOP TAC	First joint exercise between Coast Guards of India and Vietnam. Held in the Bay of Bengal off Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Focuses on improving working relationships, coordination, and capabilities for sea life rescue and environmental protection.	Indian Coast Guard Vietnam Coast Guard
IND-INDO CORPAT	Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) exercise between India and Indonesia. Conducted twice a year along their International Maritime Boundary Line since 2002. Enhances maritime security and cooperation in the Indian Ocean region.	Indian Navy Indonesian Navy
SIMBEX	Bilateral maritime exercise, 28th edition (SIMBEX-2021) held in the southern rims of the South China Sea. Aims to strengthen bilateral defence ties between India and Singapore. Held during India’s 75th year of independence celebrations.	Indian Navy Republic of Singapore Navy
IMCOR	Coordinated patrol (IMCOR) initiative between Indian Navy and Myanmar Navy. Aims to combat illegal activities, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and enhance mutual understanding and cooperation for maritime security.	Indian Navy Myanmar Navy
AL-MOHED AL-HINDI 2021	First naval exercise between Indian Navy and Royal Saudi Naval Force. INS Kochi, flagship destroyer of Indian Western Naval Fleet, participated. Highlights defence and military cooperation between India and Saudi Arabia.	Indian Navy Royal Saudi Naval Force

Military Exercises of India FAQs

Which exercise is best for the Indian Army?

A military training exercise is a coordinated training exercise conducted by military units of different countries for trained their forces in different situations, and climatic conditions and to improve coordination.

What is the Garuda exercise?

Garuda is a joint exercise between India and France Air Force that will provide a platform for both countries to enhance operational capability and interoperability, while also sharing best practices.

What do you mean by military exercise?

A military exercise, sometimes known as military training, is a training exercise for military operations that involve the use of military resources to examine the impacts of conflict or to test out different tactics without engaging in actual combat.