Bilateral naval exercises are instruments of both capability-building and strategic signalling. Discuss with examples from India's engagement in East Asia.

Bilateral naval exercises are planned drills between two navies. They do two jobs. They build the ability of the two navies to operate together (interoperability). They also send political messages to partners and rivals. India's naval engagement in East Asia during 2025–26 shows both.

Capability-building

• Interoperability at sea: In the second IN–RoKN exercise at Busan (Oct 2026), INS Sahyadri and ROKS Munmu the Great practised coordinated navigation, helicopter operations and joint manoeuvres [1].
• Shared know-how: The harbour phase included Subject Matter Expert Exchanges, operational briefings and cross-deck visits [1].
• Advanced warfare skills: In JAIMEX-25 with Japan, the same frigate carried out anti-submarine warfare and missile-defence drills [4].
• Testing indigenous platforms: Sahyadri is an Indian-designed and Indian-built Shivalik-class stealth frigate. Operating her in distant waters tests Aatmanirbhar warship-building [2].

Strategic signalling

• Commitment to the Indo-Pacific: The Ministry of Defence presents the Busan exercise as supporting peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific [1].
• Reach beyond the Indian Ocean: A single deployment in Oct 2025 covered the maiden IN–RoKN exercise and JAIMEX-25 back to back [3][4]. This gives Act East a visible naval face.
• Deepening partnerships: The 2015 Special Strategic Partnership called for staff-level talks between the two navies [5]. Regular exercises now back the Joint Strategic Vision 2026–2030, which also plans a Vice-Minister-level 2+2 dialogue [6].
• Continuity as a message: Holding the exercise in both 2025 and 2026 shows that the ties are becoming routine rather than one-off [3][1].

Limitations

• The reported IN–RoKN drills were basic. They included no live firing and no submarine-hunting [1].
• Both editions were held in Korean waters. India has not yet hosted the exercise [3][1].
• Long deployments far from home stretch India's limited number of frontline frigates.

In short, India's East Asian exercises combine practical skill-building with diplomatic messaging, and each strengthens the other. The way forward is to add harder drills step by step, take turns hosting in Indian waters, and link exercises to shipbuilding cooperation. Done this way, partnerships like IN–RoKN can turn India's vision of a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific into credible maritime power.