BIMSTEC Maritime Security Exercise 2026: First Edition at Sri Vijaya Puram, Andaman

What happened

India is hosting the first-ever BIMSTEC Maritime Security Exercise at Sri Vijaya Puram (formerly Port Blair), the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, from 30 October to 3 November 2026, according to the Ministry of Defence (one report of the ANC's preview gave 2 November as the closing day). The Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) is conducting it, and the Ministry of Defence has framed it under the banner "Translating Vision to Action – Shared Seas, Shared Security and Shared Prosperity".

All seven BIMSTEC member states are part of the exercise: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The exercise was inaugurated on 30 October by Vice Admiral Vineet McCarty, Commander-in-Chief of the ANC. Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, India's National Maritime Security Coordinator, attended along with senior delegations from Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

According to MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, the exercise has three days of tabletop exercises followed by a two-day harbour phase in which ships of BIMSTEC member countries take part. The ANC's own preview, as reported by Odisha Bytes, described the exercise as a harbour phase of professional exchanges and planning followed by a sea phase. The Indian Navy welcomed Sri Lanka's SLNS Gajabahu and Myanmar's UMS King Aung Zeya at Sri Vijaya Puram on 31 October.

Background

BIMSTEC began on 6 June 1997 with the Bangkok Declaration, signed by Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand as BIST-EC. Myanmar joined on 22 December 1997 (BIMST-EC), and Bhutan and Nepal were admitted in 2004. The First Summit in Bangkok on 31 July 2004 gave the grouping its present name. Its Secretariat has been in Dhaka, Bangladesh, since 2014, and the current Secretary General is Ambassador Indra Mani Pandey, an Indian diplomat.

The BIMSTEC Charter came into force on 20 May 2024. The 6th BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok on 4 April 2025 adopted the Bangkok Vision 2030, welcomed the signing of the Agreement on Maritime Transport Cooperation, listed maritime security among areas of regional security cooperation alongside transnational crime, and welcomed Bangladesh as the next chair. The summit's theme was "Prosperous, Resilient and Open BIMSTEC".

The exercise itself came out of the BIMSTEC Expert Group on Maritime Security Cooperation. At its 4th meeting, hosted by India's National Security Council Secretariat in New Delhi on 25 November 2025, the group agreed to hold the first exercise in the second half of 2026. At the 5th meeting of BIMSTEC National Security Chiefs (New Delhi, 16 July 2026, chaired by NSA Ajit Doval), members adopted guidelines on the maritime component of HADR and endorsed guiding principles on how maritime law enforcement agencies should behave during interactions at sea.

Key details

The stated aims, as reported from the Ministry of Defence and the ANC, are:

• better interoperability among the participating forces;
• stronger maritime domain awareness and better coordination mechanisms;
• exchange of best practices;
• joint responses to HADR needs, cross-border maritime crime and marine pollution from oil and hazardous material spills.

Bhutan and Nepal are landlocked, but in its preview the ANC noted that both depend heavily on the Bay of Bengal for their trade, which is why they too are represented.

Why it matters

• From talks to action: BIMSTEC has so far worked mostly through meetings and guidelines. A joint drill is the first operational test of its maritime security track. The ANC said the exercise is "anchored in the Delhi Declaration" and aims at collective responses to maritime threats, including terrorism.
• Bay of Bengal security: The Bay links South and South-East Asia and carries trade and energy flows for every member. Shared awareness of ships, crime and disasters at sea helps all of them.
• India's role: Hosting at Sri Vijaya Puram showcases the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which sit along key sea lanes, and fits India's Neighbourhood First and Act East policies.
• Disaster response: The region is hit often by cyclones; practising maritime HADR together can shorten relief times.

Issues and criticism

• Uneven naval capacity: Members differ greatly in navies and coast guards; two members have no coastline, so participation is necessarily unequal.
• Limited at-sea component: The MEA described the format as tabletop exercises and a harbour phase, while the ANC's preview also mentioned a sea phase. Either way, a five-day first edition is a starting point rather than a complex at-sea drill.
• Pending frameworks: A proposed BIMSTEC White Shipping Agreement is still being drafted; according to the ANC, India will soon share a draft with member states. Until it is concluded, real-time data sharing remains limited.
• Pace of BIMSTEC: The grouping is nearly three decades old, but its Charter came into force only in 2024, which shows how slowly its institutions have grown.

Way forward

• Make the exercise a regular (for example annual) event, with a larger at-sea component over time.
• Conclude the white shipping agreement to back maritime domain awareness with data.
• Put the agreed guidelines on law-enforcement conduct, HADR and oil-spill response into routine drills.
• Link the exercise with BIMSTEC's disaster-management exercises and the Maritime Transport Cooperation agreement.

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Prelims pointers

• First BIMSTEC Maritime Security Exercise: 30 Oct – 3 Nov 2026, Sri Vijaya Puram, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• Conducted by the Andaman and Nicobar Command; inaugurated by Vice Admiral Vineet McCarty.
• Theme: "Shared Seas, Shared Security and Shared Prosperity".
• Format (as described by the MEA): 3 days tabletop + 2-day harbour phase.
• BIMSTEC: 7 members, founded 6 June 1997 (Bangkok Declaration), Secretariat Dhaka (2014).
• BIMSTEC Charter in force: 20 May 2024; current chair: Bangladesh (since the 6th Summit, 2025).
• Secretary General: Indra Mani Pandey.

One-liners for SSC, Banking and Railways

• The first BIMSTEC Maritime Security Exercise was held at Sri Vijaya Puram.
• BIMSTEC stands for Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation.
• The two landlocked BIMSTEC members are Bhutan and Nepal.
• The BIMSTEC Secretariat is in Dhaka.
• The 6th BIMSTEC Summit was held in Bangkok on 4 April 2025.

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Mains practice question

"The first BIMSTEC Maritime Security Exercise marks a shift for the grouping from dialogue to operational cooperation." Discuss its significance for India and the Bay of Bengal region. (250 words)

Points to cover:

1. What the exercise is: venue, dates, format, all seven members, theme.
2. Significance: maritime domain awareness, HADR, maritime crime, India's Neighbourhood First and Act East policies, role of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
3. Limits: unequal naval capacity, limited at-sea component, pending white shipping agreement.
4. Way forward: regular editions, a sea phase, and turning agreed guidelines into practice.