Discuss the role of bilateral naval exercises in operationalising India's Act East Policy and Indo-Pacific vision.

Bilateral naval exercises turn the Act East Policy and the Indo-Pacific vision from statements into regular operational practice. SIMBEX with Singapore shows how this works. It began in 1994 as Exercise Lion King, and its 33rd edition is now under way at Visakhapatnam [1].

Role in operationalising Act East

• Operational form for diplomacy: The India–Singapore Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) Roadmap of Sept 2025 lists defence and security cooperation as one of its eight priority areas [2]. SIMBEX gives that pillar something concrete to do.
• High-trust cooperation: In 2023 the two navies signed a joint Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on submarine rescue [3]. Navies share submarine details only with partners they trust.
• Agreements that work after the drill ends: A 2018 agreement on mutual logistics and services support lets each navy's ships use the other's bases for fuel, repairs and berthing [4]. This lets ships stay deployed longer in Southeast Asian waters.

Role in the Indo-Pacific vision

• Interoperability: The 2026 Sea Phase in the Bay of Bengal covers anti-submarine, anti-surface and anti-air warfare drills [1]. These waters lead to the Malacca Strait, a key chokepoint for India's trade.
• Maritime domain awareness: Singapore has posted an International Liaison Officer at India's IFC-IOR, the Navy's centre for sharing information on shipping in the Indian Ocean [5]. SIMBEX tests this daily cooperation in person once a year.
• Common purpose: The exercise expresses a shared commitment to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and to tackling common maritime threats [1].

Limitations

• Small scale: Singapore's navy sent only one ship, RSS Supreme, to the 2026 edition [1].
• No obligation: The drills are planned in advance and create no alliance commitment.
• Limited by follow-up: The gains last only if logistics and information-sharing arrangements are actually used between exercises.

In sum, bilateral naval exercises offer "interoperability without obligation". They are low-risk ways of building trust that give Act East real operational weight. As a way forward, India should make use of the logistics agreements a routine practice, feed lessons from the exercises into IFC-IOR, and widen participation in them. This would strengthen India's role in a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific.