Discuss how naval exercises and coordinated patrols serve as instruments of India's maritime diplomacy under the MAHASAGAR vision.

MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions) links security with shared growth. INS Surat's November 2026 Muscat call for Naseem Al Bahr and a follow-on CORPAT shows how navies build trust and access [1].

Naval exercises: building trust and capability

• Interoperability: Naseem Al Bahr aims at exchanging best practices and joint working at sea [1]; its 2022 sea phase combined warships, patrol aircraft and Omani Hawk fighters [2].
• People-level trust: harbour-phase cross-deck visits and sports build ties between crews [1].
• Political signal: Oman, India's closest Gulf defence partner, was the first Gulf country to exercise with all three Indian services [3].
• Indigenous showcase: sending Surat, a Project 15B destroyer with 75% indigenous content [4], advertises Indian shipbuilding and supports the defence-industrial track of the 13th JMCC (Joint Military Cooperation Committee) [5].

Coordinated patrols: from training to presence

• Operational step: CORPAT follows the exercise, moving cooperation from rehearsal to planned joint presence at sea [1].
• Shared threats: the December 2025 Joint Vision Document on Maritime Cooperation and joint statement commit both sides to preventing piracy and maritime crime through domain awareness and information exchange [6].
• Access: an MEA lecture records regular Indian ship visits to Salalah and Duqm [7]; familiarity built in calm years helps in crises.

Limits and corrective steps

• Scale: in March 2026, 677 Indian seafarers on Indian-flagged ships lay west of Hormuz [8], beyond any patrol outside it; one destroyer cannot change that.
• Measurability: the public record gives no patrol area or duration [1]; both navies should report basic results, as far as security allows.
• Partner's balance: Oman's ties with both Iran and GCC states [7] make it an unlikely base for action against Iran; emergency fuel and repair support should be settled in writing through the JMCC.

Thus, exercises build interoperability and trust, while patrols turn them into presence at sea. Measurable patrols and assured logistics would make them more credible, advancing MAHASAGAR's promise of shared security and SDG 14's goal of sustainable oceans.