The Indian military exercises can be segregated into 3 categories:
- Domestic exercise
- Bilateral Exercise
- Multilateral exercise
Domestic exercise – This exercise aims to improve internal engagements and there can be inter-services or intra-services depending on nature and its application.
List of military domestic exercises:
- Gandiv Vijay
- Paschim Lehar
- Vayu Shakti
- Vijay Prahar
Bilateral Exercises:
Bilateral Exercise is the exercise that is conducted between two countries. Below is a table that shows the list of bilateral exercise:
Indian Army:
| S. No. | Partner Nation | Exercise name | Remarks |
| 1. | China | Ex Hand in Hand | The annual joint training exercise, 7th edition held in Oct 2018, it was suspended in 2017 because of Doklam Plateau standoff. |
| 2. | Nepal | Ex Surya Kiran | Conducted biannually (every six months), alternatively in India and Nepal. |
| 3. | Bangladesh | Ex Sampriti | It is aimed to strengthen and broaden the aspects of interoperability and cooperation between the Indian and Bangladesh Armies. |
| 4. | Sri Lanka | Ex Mitra Shakti | Its inception was in 2012 in response to China’s efforts to strengthen its influence in the Indian Ocean region & Southeast Asia. |
| 5. | USA | Ex Yudh Abhyas | Annual combat exercise started in 2004, 14th edition held in Uttarakhand in 2018. |
| 6. | USA | Ex Vajra Prahar | Conducted between Special Forces of both countries to deal with operations for counter-terrorism. |
| 7. | Myanmar | IMBAX-2017 | It is aimed at strengthening closer relations with armies of the neighboring countries. |
| 8. | Malaysia | Ex HARIMAU SHAKTI | It is a 1st bilateral military training exercise between India and Malaysia in May 2018. |
| 9. | Indonesia | Ex Garuda Shakti | Annual military exercise, started in 2012, 6th edition held in 2018 in Bandung, Indonesia. |
| 10. | Vietnam | VINBAX-2018 | First military exercise between the two countries, to carry out training for Peacekeeping Operations under United Nations (UN) mandate. |
| 11. | Maldives | Ex Ekuverin | Annual bilateral military exercise started in 2009. Hosted alternatively in India and the Maldives. |
| 12. | Russia | Ex INDRA | Transformed into tri-services Military Exercise in 2017. The 10th edition conducted in 2018 at Babina Military Station, Jhansi. |
| 13. | Oman | AL NAGAH | It is a joint military exercise first conducted in 2015. It is aimed at interoperability & weapons. |
| 14. | Japan | DHARMA GUARDIAN | First joint military exercise between India and Japan, conducted in 2018 in Mizoram. |
| 15. | Thailand | EX MAITREE | It was targeted at evolving drills & procedures involved in counter-terrorist operations. |
| 16. | UK | Ex AJEYA WARRIOR | The biennial military exercise started in 2013. |
| 17. | Kazakhstan | Ex PRABAL DOSTYK | 2016-first edition, 2017-second edition. |
| 18. | Mongolia | Ex NOMADIC ELEPHANT | Annual bilateral military exercise started in 2006. Designed to strengthen the partnership between the armies of India & Mongolia |
| 19. | Seychelles | Ex LAMITIYE | The 8th edition of this biennial military exercise conducted in May 2018 at Mahe island in Seychelles Archipelago. |
| 20. | Singapore | Ex BOLD KURUKSHETRA | A bilateral armor exercise conducted at the BABINA Field Firing Range (BFFR) in Central India between the Singapore Army and the Indian Army (IA). |
| 21. | Kyrgyzstan | Ex KHANJAR | It is an exercise between Special Forces of India and Kyrgyzstan. |
Indian Navy
| S. No. | Partner Nation | Exercise name | Remarks |
| 1. | Sri Lanka | SLINEX | SLINEX exercise started in 2005 was previously held biennially; from 2018 onwards it has been converted into the annual event. |
| 3. | Russia | INDRA NAVY | Started in 2003, 4th edition took place in 2018 in the Bay of Bengal. |
| 4. | UK | KONKAN | Started in 2004, to build interoperability and share best practices. |
| 5. | France | VARUNA | It started in 1983 between the navies of India & France. These exercises was later named as Varuna in 2001. |
| 6. | Oman | NASEEM-AL-BAHR | Biennial bilateral exercise between the two navies, started in 1993. Literally means “sea breeze” |
| 7. | Vietnam | Sahyog HOP TAC | First India Vietnam Coast Guard Exercise, held in 2018 in the Bay of Bengal. |
| 9. | Indonesia | IND-INDO CORPAT | India-Indonesia coordinated patrol (IND-INDO CORPAT), bi-annual exercise, started in 2002, 32nd edition held at Belawan, Indonesia in Oct, 2018. |
| 10. | Singapore | SIMBEX | It is an annual exercise between the Navies of Singapore & India since 1994. It stands for Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX). |
| 11. | Myanmar | IMCOR | Indo-Myanmar Coordinated Patrol (IMCOR), held annually since 2013. |
Indian Air Force
| Sr. No. | Partner Nation | Exercise name | Remarks |
| 1. | France | Ex GARUDA | This is an important aspect of the Indo-French bilateral military cooperation, which is a cornerstone of the strategic partnership between France and India, established in 1998. |
| 2. | Oman | Ex EASTERN BRIDGE | Conducted between the IAF and RAFO (Royal Air Force of Oman) |
| 3. | Russia | Ex AVIAINDRA-18 | Started in 2014, conducted biannually. The exercise is targetted towards anti-terrorist operations. |
| 5. | Thailand | SIAM BHARAT | Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) exercise. |
| 6. | UAE | Ex DESERT EAGLE | A bilateral air combat exercise provides exposure towards mission planning and execution in a simulated high threat combat environment. |
| 7. | UK | Ex INDRADHANUSH | To enhance to mutual operational understanding between IAF and Royal Air Force. Four editions so far viz. 2006, 2007, 2010, and 2015. |
| 8. | USA | Ex RED FLAG | It is 2-week aerial combat exercise organized by the Indian Air Force. It offers air combat training to military pilots from the USA and its allies |
Multilateral Exercises:
They are those exercise which consists of more than one military partners.
| Sr. No. | Exercise Name | Remarks |
| 1. | RIMPAC | It is the world’s largest maritime exercise. It was first conducted in 1971 and is held biannually near Honolulu, Hawaii (USA).The Exercise is overlooked by the US Navy’s Pacific fleet. The recent 2018 edition saw 26 countries participating which included India. |
| 2. | MALABAR | An annual trilateral naval exercise involving the United States, Japan, and India as permanent partners. It originally began in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between India and the US. Later in 2015, Japan became a permanent partner |
| 3. | MILEX-18 | First joint military exercise between BIMSTEC countries, conducted in Pune, Maharashtra. All member BIMSTEC countries, except Thailand and Nepal, took an active part in this exercise. The main aim is to promote practices in areas of counter-terrorism. |
| 4. | PEACE MISSION | A Counter Terror Military Exercise, held in Russia in September 2018, under the framework of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). For the first time, arch-rivals India and Pakistan took part in it. |
| 5. | Samvedna-2018 | The first multilateral Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise of Indian Air Force (IAF) in association with South Asian Region nations, was held off the coast of Kerala. |
| 6. | Ex COBRA GOLD | It is the largest Asia-Pacific military exercise held in Thailand every year. |
| 7. | KAKADU | Started in 1993, it is a multilateral regional maritime engagement exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Navy. It derives its name from the Kakadu National Park. |
| 8. | ARF DiR Ex | It stands for ASEAN Regional Forum Disaster Relief Exercise (ARF DiR Ex). It is aimed at organizing a large-scale disaster relief exercise. It was 1st held in 2009, & takes place biannually. It is co-hosted by one ASEAN member states and one non-ASEAN ARF member. |
| 9. | Ex KOMODO | A biennial multilateral Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise, conducted for the first time by the Indonesian Navy in April 2014 at Batam, Indonesia. |
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