How do multinational military exercises such as Tarang Shakti serve India's defence diplomacy and strategic autonomy?

Tarang Shakti is a multinational air exercise hosted by the Indian Air Force (IAF). Its second edition was held at Air Force Station Jodhpur from 26 September to 12 October 2026, with seven Friendly Foreign Countries taking part and 32 nations attending as observers [1]. Exercises like this are a form of diplomacy, and they also strengthen India's ability to act on its own.

Tool of defence diplomacy

• Multi-alignment in practice: India drew partners from every group. Quad members (Australia, USA), European powers (France, Germany), neighbours (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka) and the UAE took part [2]. India works with all of them and is allied to none.
• Neighbourhood First: Including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka builds military trust in India's immediate region [2].
• Interoperability and trust: The exercise theme was "Power in Partnership" [2]. The Raksha Mantri summed it up as "Different nations. Different aircraft… But one sky" [1].
• Showcase for exports: Observer nations saw indigenous platforms such as Tejas, Prachand and Akash [1]. This supports the RM's view that future defence ties will rest on "technology and trust" [1].

Enabler of strategic autonomy

• Calibrated cooperation: The RM said India must be able to act independently when required, and still operate effectively with others when interests converge [1].
• Learning without alliances: Crews compare doctrines and mission planning, and "examine existing assumptions." The RM directed that the lessons go into training, tactics and doctrine [1].
• Self-reliance is not isolation: India offers partners co-development, co-production, maintenance and training [1]. The aim is to build the ability at home to "design, develop, manufacture, maintain and upgrade" critical technologies [1].

Limits

• Exercises cannot replace capability: The Tejas Mk1A still depends on 113 GE F404 engines from the USA [3]. The RM himself named aero-engines as a critical gap [1].

Tarang Shakti therefore serves both diplomacy and capability-building. To keep that value, India should hold the exercise regularly, bring in more Global South partners, and link partnerships to real technology transfer, especially for aero-engines and the AMCA. This would make India a partner of choice without giving up its autonomy, in line with Article 51's call to promote international peace and maintain just and honourable relations between nations.