The Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) will host the first edition of the BIMSTEC Maritime Security Exercise at Sri Vijaya Puram, formerly Port Blair, starting on Friday, October 30, the command has said, in what officials describe as the seven-nation grouping's first dedicated multilateral naval drill in the Bay of Bengal.
Source: IANS
Naval assets from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand will take part directly, while Bhutan and Nepal will send representatives — both are landlocked nations that depend heavily on the Bay of Bengal for their export-import trade, the ANC said. Sri Lanka's Navy confirmed that its ship SLNS Gajabahu sailed from Colombo on October 25 to join the inaugural exercise in India.
Source: Sri Lanka Navy
Harbour talks first, then coordinated action at sea
The exercise will run from October 30 to November 2 in two phases, according to the ANC. A harbour phase of professional exchanges and planning is meant to build trust and understanding, and a sea phase will sharpen interoperability on the water. Together, the command said, they turn a common vision for a safe, secure and stable Bay into coordinated action at sea.
Source: IANS
The stated goals are to enhance maritime domain awareness, build operational coordination across the Bay of Bengal, strengthen regional security cooperation and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), and improve responses to cross-border maritime crimes and to marine pollution from oil and hazardous-material spills.
Why the Bay of Bengal, and why now
BIMSTEC — the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation — links five South Asian members, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, with two from Southeast Asia, Myanmar and Thailand. The grouping signed an Agreement on Maritime Transport Cooperation at its sixth summit in Bangkok in April 2025, and its Expert Group on Maritime Security Cooperation has since finalised guidelines for maritime law-enforcement agencies and for a coordinated regional oil-spill response. India will soon present a draft BIMSTEC White Shipping Agreement for member states to consider, the report said.
Source: Nation Press
The Bay of Bengal is highly vulnerable to natural disasters, and the grouping has finalised HADR guidelines for the maritime domain along with a Plan of Action on Comprehensive Disaster Management; India has also proposed a BIMSTEC Disaster Management Centre to coordinate regional relief operations. “The Bay of Bengal binds our region's security, trade and prosperity. The inaugural BIMSTEC Maritime Security Exercise brings partner navies and agencies together at Sri Vijaya Puram. Together, we chart the course for collective maritime wellbeing,” the ANC said.
Source: IANS