Multinational exercises such as SAREX are instruments of maritime diplomacy as much as operational drills. Comment.

On 7 October 2026 the Raksha Rajya Mantri inaugurated SAREX-2026, the Indian Coast Guard's search and rescue exercise off Paradip. Alongside the Navy, Air Force, coastal police and ports, it brought in 32 delegates from 30 foreign nations [1]. Such exercises rehearse rescue at sea, but they also present India as a trusted regional partner. They serve both purposes.

SAREX as an operational drill

• Checks readiness: It tests a whole-of-government joint response across the 4.6 million sq km Indian Search and Rescue Region (ISRR) [1].
• Builds interoperability: Shared procedures with foreign partners reflect the SAR Convention, 1979, which calls for coordination between neighbouring SAR organisations [4].
• Integrates technology: It tests satellite-aided distress alerting, now stronger because ISRO's MEOLUT ground station has reached full operational capability [1].

SAREX as maritime diplomacy

• Convening power: SAREX-2024 had the theme "Enhancing Search and Rescue Capabilities Through Regional Collaboration" and hosted 38 foreign observers [2].
• Credibility as a provider: The Indian Mission Control Centre (INMCC) at Bengaluru supplies distress-alert data for India and 7 neighbouring countries [3]. SAREX puts this service on display.
• Values-based framing: The RRM invoked "One Earth, One Family, One Future" and presented SAR as a global public good [1]. This strengthens India's image as a first responder in the Indian Ocean Region.
• Low-threat engagement: A humanitarian agenda draws in partners who might be wary of combat exercises.

Limits of the diplomatic dividend

• Capability gap: The CAG (Report No. 7 of 2011) found that in December 2010 the Coast Guard had only 65% of the ships and 48% of the aircraft it needed [6]. Diplomatic promises can run ahead of the assets needed to keep them.
• Last-mile reach: Satellites detect only boats that carry beacons. ISRO's two-way DAT-SG transmitter for fishing boats [5] is not yet offered to partner countries.
• No outcome data: Exercises measure effort, not lives saved. The CAG noted that failed missions were not even recorded [6].

SAREX therefore combines readiness with reassurance: the drill builds the capability that makes the diplomacy credible. India could turn this goodwill into lives saved by modernising its fleet, publishing SAR outcome data and sharing DAT-type devices with partners in the Indian Ocean Region. That would honour the cooperative spirit of the SAR Convention and India's ethos of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.