Joint military exercises are an instrument of defence diplomacy. Examine with reference to India's recent exercises with Gulf partners.

Defence diplomacy is the use of armed forces in peacetime to build trust between states. India's army exercises with Gulf partners show that small, regular drills can turn political agreements into working military ties. Their depth, however, is still limited.

How exercises serve defence diplomacy

• Turning paper into practice: the India–UAE Defence MoU was signed in 2003, but the first army exercise, Desert Cyclone, came only in January 2024 [3]. Mountain Guardian began less than five months after the May 2026 Framework for the Strategic Defence Partnership was signed [1][2].
• Training as soft power: at the Foreign Training Node, Chaubatia, India shares mountain-warfare tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) with a UAE Mountain Infantry Battalion [1]. This places India as a provider of training, not just an equal participant.
• A wider agenda: training has moved from urban, UN-mandate operations in Desert Cyclone (Abu Dhabi, 2025) [4] to mountain warfare, drone operations and surveillance grids [1].
• Reach across the Gulf: Sada Tanseeq with Saudi Arabia [5] and Al Najah with Oman [6] apply the same model across the Gulf.
• Inclusive signalling: women officers and combatants from both armies take part in specialist roles [1].
• Backing core interests: military trust supports a deep economic relationship. The UAE is the only foreign participant in India's Strategic Petroleum Reserve programme, and trade crossed US$100 bn in FY 2025-26 [2].

Limitations

• Small scale: 92 personnel (46 per side) for 14 days [1], against 45 per side in 2024 [3]. Size has not grown, so the armies only learn to work together as small teams.
• Dependent on summits: the 20-year gap between the MoU and the first exercise shows that progress needs political push from leaders. If that push fades, exercises could slow down again.
• Weak link to industry: the 2026 Framework covers defence-industrial co-development [2], but the exercises are not yet linked to it.

Way forward

• The Joint Defence Co-operation Committee (JDCC) [2] should feed the drones and surveillance systems tested in exercises into co-development projects.
• Exercises should grow step by step to battalion-level and joint staff-planning formats.

India's Gulf exercises turn summit-level goodwill into trust on the ground and help secure India's energy and diaspora interests. Bigger exercises tied to defence industry would make them a lasting partnership. This fits India's goal of being a trusted security partner in its extended neighbourhood.