India and Russia begin naval wargame INDRA in Russian waters

INS Sahyadri arrives at Vladivostok, Russia for bilateral exercise Indra-2026

India and Russia are conducting the 2026 edition of Exercise INDRA, their bilateral naval exercise, with the Indian Navy's indigenously built stealth frigate INS Sahyadri arriving at Vladivostok on October 10.

The exercise runs from October 13 to 18 and brings personnel from the Indian Navy and the Russian Navy together for harbour-based engagements and coordinated activities at sea. The wargame is intended to improve mutual understanding, operational coordination and interoperability, and the programme includes professional interactions, maritime evolutions and social and cultural exchanges. The ministry has not detailed the sea-phase drills in its arrival announcement.The deployment forms part of India's wider maritime engagement under its MAHASAGAR vision, Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions. The ministry has also linked the visit to the momentum from the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit, held on December 4 and 5, 2025.INS Sahyadri is the third ship of the Shivalik-class guided-missile stealth frigates. It was designed and built in India, commissioned in 2012.

It carries weapons and sensors to counter threats in the air, on the surface and underwater. The frigate took part in the Japan-India Maritime Exercise in October 2025, which involved anti-submarine warfare and missile-defence drills and has exercised with other navies, including France's.INDRA began in 2003 as a bilateral naval exercise, with the name combining those of the two countries. The first edition was held in two phases off India's western and eastern coasts in May and June 2003.

The framework later grew to include the Army and Air Force. In October 2017, the two countries held their first joint tri-service INDRA in Russia, with more than 900 Indian and over 1,000 Russian personnel covering counter-terrorism, joint command structures, naval force protection and air defence.

The second tri-service edition was held in India in December 2019, at Babina, Pune and Goa, focusing on counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency under a United Nations mandate.The naval exercise has continued separately. The 14th edition was held from March 28 to April 2, 2025, off Chennai and in the Bay of Bengal, with the Indian ships Rana and Kuthar and a P-8I maritime patrol aircraft taking part alongside the Russian vessels Pechanga, Rezkiy and Aldar Tsydenzhapov. The sea phase included tactical manoeuvres, live weapon firings, anti-air operations, underway replenishment and helicopter cross-deck landings.

The 2026 edition moves the exercise to Russian waters, with Vladivostok as the host port.INDRA is one part of a wider defence relationship covering training, equipment supplies, licensed production, joint research and defence-industrial cooperation, coordinated through the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military and Military Technical Cooperation. The BrahMos missile was jointly developed by the two countries, HAL builds the Su-30MKI under licence, and T-90S tanks are produced in India.

The AK-203 rifle is being made through the Indo-Russia Rifles Private Limited joint venture, and India has bought the S-400 air defence system. On the naval side, Russia was involved in transferring and refurbishing INS Vikramaditya, and the Russian-built frigates INS Tushil and INS Tamal were commissioned in December 2024 and July 2025.