Army launches multinational ‘Pragati’ exercise in Meghalaya as INS Sunayna returns after seven-week Indian Ocean deployment with foreign sailors onboard

India’s multi-lateral push on military exercises, with a focus on the extended neighbourhood, saw two separate developments on Wednesday.

An Indian Navy warship, INS Sunayna, with sailors from 16 countries, completed its unique seven-week mission, while the Army announced the start of a two-week multinational exercise involving contingents from 12 countries.

The Naval warship’s mission, named ‘Indian Ocean Ship Sagar’, concluded with the vessel docking in Kochi, Kerala, on Wednesday. It had been flagged off from Mumbai on April 2 by Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth.

During the deployment from April 2 to May 20, INS Sunayna made port calls at Colombo in Sri Lanka, Phuket in Thailand, Jakarta in Indonesia, Singapore, Chittagong in Bangladesh, Yangon in Myanmar and Male in Maldives.

Joint exercises and professional exchanges onboard and ashore provided comprehensive training to Indian Navy and foreign sailors from UAE, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Maldives, Seychelles, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Timor-Leste and Bangladesh.

Far away from Kochi, the Indian Army on Wednesday said the multinational exercise named ‘Pragati’ is being conducted in Meghalaya, in the north-eastern part of the country.

Contingents from the armies of 12 friendly nations are participating: Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

Both military drills — the Naval sail and the Army exercise — aim to improve interoperability with international partners. Both exercises include countries that are involved in maritime disputes with China.

The Army’s exercise named ‘Pragati’ is an acronym for ‘Partnership of Regional Armies for Growth and Transformation in the Indian Ocean Region’.

The Ministry of Defence said the objective of the exercise includes enabling seamless coordination among participating nations in joint operations and identifying common areas of cooperation. The two-week exercise will focus on counter-terrorism operations in semi-mountainous and jungle terrain.

The training programme will include joint planning exercises, tactical-level drills and coordinated operations designed to improve adaptability, endurance and tactical proficiency of participating troops.

As part of the exercise, Indian technology and defence companies will showcase indigenous equipment and innovations under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.

Meanwhile, the Naval warship that concluded its seven-week deployment demonstrated to participating countries how to tackle a range of challenges, including maritime security threats, piracy, illegal fishing, trafficking, natural disasters and the growing need for safe and secure sea lines of communication.

Prior to sailing out, there was a two-week harbour phase at the Southern Naval Command in Kochi from March 16 to 29. This was designed to build foundational and advanced competencies across a broad spectrum of naval operations.

A key highlight of the training was the extensive use of state-of-the-art simulators and modern training infrastructure, enabling realistic, scenario-based learning.

These advanced facilities provided participants with hands-on exposure to complex maritime situations, enhancing decision-making and operational readiness in a controlled environment. The integration of theoretical instruction with practical application ensured a holistic learning experience aligned with contemporary maritime challenges.