Naval diplomacy
Also called: Maritime diplomacy · Topic: India's External Relations, 1947-1999: Non-alignment, Wars and Nuclear Policy · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Naval diplomacy, also called maritime diplomacy, means a country using its navy to build friendships with other countries in peacetime. It does this through warship visits, port calls (a warship stopping at a foreign port) and joint exercises with foreign navies. These activities build interoperability, which means the ability of two navies to work together smoothly at sea. They also signal goodwill and shared interests. This is not an alliance: no country promises to fight for another.
Example
In October 2026 INS Sahyadri, an indigenously built guided missile stealth frigate, reached Busan in the Republic of Korea for the IN–RoKN Bilateral Exercise. The exercise followed the first India–Korea naval exercise in October 2025. It had a harbour phase, with cross-deck visits (crews visiting each other's ships), training and sports, and then a sea phase with coordinated activities. Its stated aim was interoperability and lasting partnership.
Don't confuse with
- Military alliance: an alliance is a formal promise to defend each other, like NATO in the Cold War. Naval diplomacy builds trust and habits of working together, but it commits no one to war.
- Gunboat diplomacy: this means showing naval power to threaten or pressure another state. Naval diplomacy is cooperative and aims to win friends, not to frighten them.