INS SAHYADRI CONCLUDES INDIA–REPUBLIC OF KOREA NAVY BILATERAL EXERCISE AT BUSAN

1. At a Glance

• What happened: INS Sahyadri, an Indian Navy frigate, finished her part in the India–Republic of Korea Navy (IN–RoKN) bilateral exercise at Busan on 29 Oct 2026. The partner ship was ROKS Munmu the Great [1].
• Edition: This is the second exercise of its kind. The first (inaugural) edition was held in the ROK from 13–16 Oct 2025 [3].
• Stated purpose: The Ministry of Defence says the main outcome is interoperability. It also says the exercise deepens maritime cooperation and supports peace, stability and security in the Indo-Pacific [1].
• Why it matters for UPSC: It ties together the Act East / Indo-Pacific approach, the India–ROK Special Strategic Partnership (2015) and indigenous warship-building (Shivalik class, Project 17) [2][6][9].

2. Why in the News

• INS Sahyadri arrived at Busan Naval Harbour on 26 Oct 2026 for the IN–RoKN bilateral exercise [2].
• She concluded her participation on 29 Oct 2026. The Ministry of Defence release came out through PIB Delhi on 03 Nov 2026 [1].
• Harbour phase: professional discussions, cross-deck visits, operational briefings, Subject Matter Expert Exchanges (SMEEs), cultural exchanges and sports [1].
• Sea phase: coordinated navigation, helo operations and joint maritime manoeuvres with ROKS Munmu the Great [1].

3. Background & Evolution

• 2015 (18 May): India and the ROK upgraded ties to a Special Strategic Partnership. The joint statement called for:
• a Vice-Ministerial "2+2" defence and foreign affairs dialogue
• cooperation between shipyards for defence needs

• staff-level talks between the two navies [6]

• 2015 (approx.): INS Sahyadri visited Incheon, ROK [12].

• 2017 (21 Apr): The two countries signed an intergovernmental MoU on Defence Industry Cooperation in Shipbuilding. It runs for an initial 5 years and renews automatically for 5-year periods. India nominated Hindustan Shipyard Ltd [7].
• 2020: An MoU on a "Roadmap to Defence Industry Cooperation" was signed [5].
• 2022: INS Shivalik and INS Kamorta visited South Korea [11].
• 2025: The partnership marked its 10th anniversary [4]. In October 2025, during an operational deployment to the South China Sea and Indo-Pacific, Sahyadri [10][13]:
• called at Busan on 13 Oct 2025 for the maiden IN–RoKN bilateral exercise
• took part in the JAIMEX-25 sea phase with Japan (16–18 Oct 2025)

• called at Yokosuka on 21 Oct 2025 for the JAIMEX harbour phase

• Apr 2026: India and the ROK adopted a Joint Strategic Vision for the Special Strategic Partnership covering 2026–2030 [5].

• Oct 2026: The second IN–RoKN bilateral exercise was held at Busan [1][2].

4. Core Static Facts

Item	Fact
Exercise	IN–RoKN bilateral exercise (IN = Indian Navy; RoKN = Republic of Korea Navy) [1]
Venue (2026)	Busan, Republic of Korea [1]
Dates (2026)	Arrival 26 Oct 2026 [2]; conclusion 29 Oct 2026 [1]
Indian ship	INS Sahyadri: indigenously designed and built guided-missile stealth frigate, the third ship of the Shivalik class [2]
ROK ship (2026)	ROKS Munmu the Great [1]
Inaugural edition	13–16 Oct 2025, in the ROK [3]. The ROK ship is named ROKS Gyeongnam by PIB [3] but ROKS Nojeokbong by an MEA brief [4]
Issuing ministry	Ministry of Defence (release via PIB Delhi, 03 Nov 2026) [1]
Shivalik class (Project 17)	INS Shivalik (Apr 2010), INS Satpura (Aug 2011), INS Sahyadri (Jul 2012) [9]
Sahyadri commissioned	21 Jul 2012 at Mazagon Dock Ltd, Mumbai, by Defence Minister A.K. Antony [8]
Strategic framework	Special Strategic Partnership (May 2015) [6]; Joint Strategic Vision 2026–2030 [5]

Key terms [1]:

• Interoperability: the ability of two forces to operate together using compatible procedures.
• Cross-deck visits: personnel visit each other's ships.
• SMEE: Subject Matter Expert Exchange.
• Harbour phase vs sea phase: the in-port and at-sea parts of the exercise.

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Geopolitical / Strategic

• Sustained naval engagement signals both countries' commitment to deeper maritime cooperation and a stable Indo-Pacific [1][2].
• The 2025 and 2026 editions grew out of the 2015 call for navy-to-navy staff talks. This shows the move from dialogue to operational exercises [6][3].
• The Busan exercise fits into wider East Asia deployments: Japan (JAIMEX-25) and Malaysia/South China Sea in 2025 [10][13]. India's naval presence is extending beyond the Indian Ocean.

Defence-Industrial / Economic

• The 2026 Joint Strategic Vision revives the 2020 Defence Industry Roadmap and notes the K9-Vajra howitzer joint venture, whose second production batch is underway [5].
• The 2017 shipbuilding MoU (Hindustan Shipyard Ltd as India's nominee) links naval diplomacy to Korean shipbuilding know-how [7].

Scientific / Technological

• Sahyadri is an indigenously designed and built stealth frigate from Mazagon Dock. Deploying her abroad shows off Aatmanirbhar shipbuilding [2][8].
• Joint helo operations and coordinated navigation test whether the two navies' procedures and communications are compatible [1].

Institutional / Governance

• The 2026 Joint Strategic Vision plans two new mechanisms [5]:
• a Joint Committee Meeting on Defence Industry Cooperation

• the first Vice-Minister-level 2+2 (Defence and Foreign Affairs) dialogue

• An MoD-led exercise, communicated via PIB, works alongside MEA-led strategic dialogue [1][5].

Soft power / Social

• Cultural exchanges and sporting engagements in the harbour phase build camaraderie and personal bonds between the two navies [1].
• The Defence Minister's planned May 2026 visit was for the inauguration of a memorial to India's role in the Korean War. This draws on shared history [5].

6. Recent Developments (last 12–18 months)

• 13–16 Oct 2025: inaugural IN–RoKN bilateral exercise in the ROK [3].
• 16–21 Oct 2025: Sahyadri takes part in JAIMEX-25 (sea phase 16–18 Oct; harbour phase at Yokosuka 21 Oct) [10].
• 2025: 10th anniversary of the Special Strategic Partnership [4].
• Apr 2026: Joint Strategic Vision (2026–2030) adopted at the leaders' meeting in New Delhi [5].
• May 2026 (planned): Indian Defence Minister's visit to the ROK for the Korean War memorial inauguration [5].
• 26 Oct 2026: Sahyadri arrives at Busan Naval Harbour [2].
• 29 Oct 2026: Sahyadri concludes the second IN–RoKN exercise [1].
• 03 Nov 2026: MoD release issued via PIB [1].

7. Prelims Hooks

• The IN–RoKN bilateral exercise of Oct 2026 was held at Busan, Republic of Korea [1].
• The ROK ship in the 2026 edition was ROKS Munmu the Great [1].
• INS Sahyadri concluded her participation on 29 Oct 2026 [1].
• The inaugural IN–RoKN bilateral exercise was held 13–16 Oct 2025 [3].
• INS Sahyadri is the third ship of the Shivalik class (Project 17) [2][9].
• Shivalik-class order: Shivalik (2010) → Satpura (2011) → Sahyadri (2012) [9].
• INS Sahyadri was commissioned 21 Jul 2012 at Mazagon Dock Ltd, Mumbai [8].
• The ship type is a guided-missile stealth frigate, not a destroyer or corvette [2].
• The exercise had two parts: a harbour phase (SMEEs, cross-deck visits, briefings) and a sea phase (coordinated navigation, helo ops, manoeuvres) [1].
• India–ROK ties were upgraded to a Special Strategic Partnership on 18 May 2015 [6].
• The 2015 joint statement proposed a Vice-Ministerial 2+2 defence and foreign affairs dialogue [6].
• The K9-Vajra howitzer is an India–ROK defence-industrial joint venture [5].
• The 2017 India–ROK shipbuilding MoU nominated Hindustan Shipyard Ltd on the Indian side [7].
• The release was issued by the Ministry of Defence, not the MEA [1].

8. What a Four-Day, Two-Ship Exercise Can and Cannot Prove

• The drills listed are the basic level of working together
• The sea phase had coordinated navigation, helicopter operations and joint manoeuvres [1].
• The release does not mention harder drills. There is no hunting of submarines, no air-defence firing and no live weapons [1].

• So 'interoperability' (two navies being able to fight side by side) has only been tested at its first step: sailing together safely and talking on the same radio procedures.

• Much of the exercise happened in port, not at sea

• The harbour phase covered talks, ship visits, briefings, SMEEs, culture and sports [1].
• These build trust, but they do not test combat skills.

• Sahyadri arrived on 26 Oct and finished on 29 Oct. That leaves only a short window for the sea phase [1][2].

• Both editions were held in Korean waters

• The 2025 edition was held in the ROK, and the 2026 edition at Busan [3][1].
• No source here records a Korean warship coming to Indian waters for this exercise.

• A partnership where only one side travels is still at an early stage.

• The fair reply: small steps are normal for a new exercise

• It took eight years to get from the 2015 call for navy staff talks to the first exercise in 2025 [6][3].
• Holding it two years in a row shows the exercise is becoming routine, and routine matters more than size in the early years.
• The real test is whether later editions add harder drills and take turns hosting.

9. Why the Navy Ties Run Ahead of the Trade Ties

• India buys three times more from Korea than it sells
• In 2025, total trade was USD 25.6 billion. India imported USD 19.2 billion and exported only USD 6.4 billion [4].

• That is a trade deficit (when a country imports more than it exports) of about USD 12.8 billion in a single year.

• The trade deal made the gap worse, not smaller

• India and Korea signed a CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, a trade deal that cuts import taxes). It came into force in 2010 [16].
• At the 12th round of upgrade talks in May 2026, both sides admitted that India's deficit has risen significantly since then [16].

• Korean goods got easier access to India, but Indian goods did not grow as fast in Korea.

• Why this matters for the naval story

• A 'Special Strategic Partnership' needs economic weight behind it, not just ships visiting each other.

• If Indian industry feels the ties help only Korean exporters, there is less support at home for deeper defence links.

• The Commerce Ministry has a live chance to fix it

• The upgrade talks cover goods, services, rules of origin (rules on where a product counts as 'made') and investment [16].
• The two sides also agreed to set up sub-groups on supply chains and strategic industrial cooperation [16]. That is the place where defence-industrial work and trade balance can be linked.

10. Showing the Flag Abroad While Ships Are Still Short at Home

• The Navy has long been short of ships
• In 2014–15, the Standing Committee on Defence noted that the Navy had 140 vessels. This left a gap of 72 vessels against what it needed by 2027 [18].
• In its 2025–26 report, the Committee recorded 61 ships under construction, 60 of them in Indian yards [17].

• The Committee warned that this shipbuilding should not stall for lack of funds [17].

• The same few frigates carry heavy foreign duties

• In 2025 alone, Sahyadri sailed to Malaysia, then Korea, then Japan for JAIMEX-25 [13][10].
• She is now 14 years old, commissioned in 2012 [8].

• Every month a ship spends in East Asia is a month away from the Indian Ocean and from her repair schedule.

• What this means for an answer

• Exercises far from home show India's reach. But reach depends on having enough ships.
• The faster the 61 ships under construction are delivered, the easier it is to keep up East Asian deployments without leaving gaps nearer home [17].

11. Korean Shipyards: Where the Bigger Payoff May Lie

• The warship-building agreement has produced little that can be seen
• The 2017 MoU on defence shipbuilding named Hindustan Shipyard Ltd as India's partner [7].
• No source here records a warship built under it.

• The MoU renews by itself every 5 years [7]. Counting from April 2017, the next renewal falls in April 2027. That is a natural point for MoD to review what it has delivered.

• The real deals so far are in commercial ships

• In September 2025, Cochin Shipyard signed a long-term MoU with HD KSOE (a large Korean shipbuilder) [19].
• The plan is to build large tankers, container ships and bulk carriers, up to six vessels a year, and a block-making facility at Kochi worth about ₹3,700 crore [19].

• In April 2026, a three-party MoU was signed for a new 2.5 million GT shipyard at Thoothukudi with HD KSOE [20]. (GT, gross tonnage, measures a ship's size.)

• Why this link matters

• Korea is one of the world's top shipbuilders. Its skill in building ships quickly is exactly what India's delayed naval projects lack [17][18].

• The exercise builds trust between the two navies. Shipyard partnerships turn that trust into ships.

• Who should act

• MoD and Hindustan Shipyard: use the 2027 renewal point to attach the 2017 MoU to a real naval project, so it does not stay on paper [7].
• The planned Joint Committee on Defence Industry Cooperation: track warship work, not just the K9-Vajra howitzer [5].
• Indian Navy: host a future edition in Indian waters and add harder drills, so the exercise grows along with the industrial ties.

12. Anchors for Answers

• Data: India–ROK trade in 2025 was USD 25.6 billion, with India importing USD 19.2 billion and exporting USD 6.4 billion [4]
• Data: 61 warships under construction for the Navy, 60 of them in Indian shipyards (Standing Committee on Defence, 2025–26) [17]
• Report/Committee: Standing Committee on Defence, 16th Report (2025–26, 18th Lok Sabha), which warned that shipbuilding should not stall for lack of funds [17]; 8th Report (2014–15), which found a 72-vessel gap against the 2027 requirement [18]
• Comparison: Cochin Shipyard–HD KSOE MoU (2025) and the Thoothukudi greenfield shipyard (2026). Korean cooperation is moving faster in commercial shipbuilding than under the 2017 warship MoU [19][20][7]
• Scheme: India–Korea CEPA upgrade talks (12th round, May 2026), aimed at fixing India's rising trade deficit since 2010 [16]

13. Mains Relevance

• GS-II: India and its neighbourhood and relations; bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India; effect of other countries' policies on India's interests (Indo-Pacific, Act East).
• GS-III: Security challenges and their management; indigenisation of technology (defence manufacturing, warship-building).
• Question stems: 1. India–Republic of Korea relations have moved from economic to strategic convergence. Examine with reference to recent defence and naval cooperation. 2. Bilateral naval exercises are instruments of both capability-building and strategic signalling. Discuss with examples from India's engagement in East Asia. 3. How can defence-industrial partnerships with East Asian economies support India's goal of self-reliance in shipbuilding? Illustrate.

14. Related Topics to Study Next

• India–ROK Special Strategic Partnership (2015) and Joint Strategic Vision 2026–2030: the political framework behind the exercise [5][6].
• JAIMEX (Japan–India Maritime Exercise): the same ship joined it in 2025, so the two make a useful comparison [10].
• Project 17 / 17A frigates: the class lineage from Shivalik to Udaygiri [9].
• K9-Vajra joint venture: the flagship India–ROK defence-industrial project [5].
• Act East Policy and the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative: the strategic doctrine behind deployments to East Asia.
• India's South China Sea deployments: the context of Sahyadri's 2025 Kemaman call [13].
• India–Indonesia–Australia trilateral exercise: another first-edition exercise Sahyadri took part in [14].

15. NCERT Concepts to Revise

• Indo-Pacific (Geography): The exercise is framed as supporting peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, the strategic region behind India's naval deployments.
• Self-reliance (Economy): Sahyadri's indigenous build and the push for domestic warship-building reflect India's Aatmanirbhar goal of avoiding import dependence.
• Trade deficit (Economy): India imports about three times what it exports to Korea, showing trade ties lag behind naval ties.
• Comprehensive economic partnership agreement (Economy): The India–Korea CEPA of 2010 is under upgrade talks because it widened India's trade deficit.
• Standing committee (Polity): The Standing Committee on Defence reports on the Navy's ship shortage and shipbuilding funding used in the note.
• Korean War (History): India's role in the Korean War is the shared history behind the planned memorial and the ties with Korea.

16. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• Ship type: Sahyadri is a frigate (Shivalik class), not a Kolkata-class destroyer. She has sailed alongside INS Kolkata before, which causes confusion [2][15].
• Edition: the Oct 2026 exercise is the second edition. The inaugural one was Oct 2025 [3].
• Partner ship by year: 2026 was Munmu the Great [1]. For 2025, PIB says Gyeongnam [3] but an MEA brief says Nojeokbong [4].
• Port: the 2026 exercise was at Busan. Sahyadri's earlier ROK visit was to Incheon [12].
• Dates: the exercise ended 29 Oct, the ship arrived 26 Oct and the release came out 03 Nov 2026. Don't mix them up [1][2].