INS Sahyadri departed Vladivostok on 20 October 2026 after the conclusion of the India-Russia bilateral naval exercise INDRA 2026 with the Russian Federation Navy. The exercise followed the familiar two-phase pattern: a harbour phase of leaders' interactions, cross-deck visits, Subject Matter Expert Exchanges, operational synchronisation, sport and cultural events, and a sea phase of coordinated manoeuvring, integrated communications, helicopter operations and medical evacuation drills.
The release is short, but it touches several facts the NDA paper tests repeatedly: the name and history of the exercise, the ship, the port, and the long defence relationship behind them.
What the 2026 edition involved
| Phase | Content (per the release) |
|---|---|
| Harbour phase, Vladivostok | Key leaders' interactions; cross-deck visits; Subject Matter Expert Exchanges; operational synchronisation; sports fixtures; cultural exchanges |
| Sea phase | Coordinated manoeuvring; integrated communications; helicopter operations; medical evacuation drills |
Set against the previous edition, the published programme is modest. The 2025 edition, held off Chennai from 28 March to 2 April 2025 and described as the 14th edition, listed tactical manoeuvres, live weapon firings, anti-air operations, underway replenishment, helicopter cross-deck landings and the exchange of sea-riders, with the destroyer INS Rana, the corvette INS Kuthar and a P-8I maritime patrol aircraft on the Indian side. The 2026 release mentions no weapon firings or anti-air serials. A single Indian ship operating far from home waters, with an emphasis on communications, helicopters and medical evacuation, reads as a programme focused on basic interoperability rather than combat drills.
INDRA: the name and the history
- Name: INDRA combines INDia and RussiA — and is also the name of the Vedic god of thunder and war.
- Origin: the first India-Russia bilateral naval exercise under the name was held in 2003.
- Single-service editions: for most of its history INDRA has been run as separate Army and Navy exercises, hosted alternately by the two countries.
- Tri-service editions: the first tri-service INDRA was held in 2017 at Vladivostok, and the second in 2019 in India — rare examples of India exercising all three services with a single foreign partner.
- A Vladivostok precedent: in INDRA Navy-14, the frigates INS Shivalik and INS Ranvijay and the tanker INS Shakti sailed to Vladivostok to exercise with Russia's Pacific Fleet.
- Air force counterpart: the two air forces exercise separately as AVIAINDRA.
INS Sahyadri and the Project 17 frigates
INS Sahyadri is the third ship of Project 17, the Shivalik-class stealth frigates — the first frigates designed and built in India with stealth features. All three were built by Mazagon Dock, Mumbai, and Sahyadri was commissioned in 2012.
| Ship | Class |
|---|---|
| INS Shivalik | Project 17 (lead ship) |
| INS Satpura | Project 17 |
| INS Sahyadri | Project 17 |
Project 17 was succeeded by Project 17A, the Nilgiri class, whose lead ship INS Nilgiri hosted the SIMBEX-2026 opening this week. Both classes take their names from Indian hill ranges — Sahyadri is the regional name for the Western Ghats.
Why Vladivostok
Vladivostok is the headquarters of Russia's Pacific Fleet, on the Sea of Japan, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. It is the eastern terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway.
For India it matters in two ways. Militarily, exercising with the Pacific Fleet gives the Indian Navy experience in the north-western Pacific, far beyond its usual operating area. Economically, the Chennai-Vladivostok maritime corridor, agreed in 2019, is meant to provide a shorter sea route between India and Russia's Far East than the western route through the Suez Canal, opening access to the region's energy and mineral resources. A warship visit is one of the ways a partner signals interest in a region.
The defence relationship behind the exercise
INDRA is one strand of the longest-standing defence relationship India has with any major power. The relationship was described as a "Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership" from 2010. Its practical footprint across the three services is large:
- Navy: the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (the former Admiral Gorshkov, commissioned 2013); the Talwar-class frigates, including INS Tamal, commissioned at Kaliningrad in 2025 as the last warship India acquired from abroad, and the INS Tarkash that represented India at IBSAMAR this month.
- Air Force: the Su-30MKI, built under licence by HAL.
- Army: the T-90 tank.
- Missiles: BrahMos, a joint venture between India's DRDO and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyeniya, named after the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers; and the S-400 air defence system.
India has spent the last decade diversifying its suppliers and building indigenous capacity, so the share of Russian equipment in new acquisitions has fallen. But the existing fleet will rely on Russian support for decades, which keeps military-to-military contact — exercises, training, staff talks — important. The Army Chief's visit to Moscow and Saint Petersburg in September was part of the same pattern.
🔑 Revision block
- The event: INDRA 2026 concluded; INS Sahyadri left Vladivostok on 20 October 2026.
- Phases: harbour (leaders' talks, cross-deck visits, SMEEs, sport, culture) and sea (manoeuvres, integrated communications, helicopter operations, medical evacuation drills).
- Previous edition: INDRA 2025, the 14th, off Chennai (28 March-2 April 2025) — INS Rana, INS Kuthar, P-8I; included live firings and anti-air serials.
- History: began 2003; name = INDia + RussiA; first tri-service edition 2017 at Vladivostok, second 2019 in India; air forces exercise as AVIAINDRA.
- INS Sahyadri: third ship of Project 17 (Shivalik class), Mazagon Dock, commissioned 2012; P17 → P17A (Nilgiri class); named after the Western Ghats.
- Vladivostok: HQ of Russia's Pacific Fleet, on the Sea of Japan; eastern end of the Trans-Siberian Railway; Chennai-Vladivostok maritime corridor (agreed 2019).
- Relationship: "Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership" (2010); Vikramaditya, Talwar class (INS Tamal, 2025), Su-30MKI, T-90, BrahMos (Brahmaputra + Moskva), S-400.
🎯 Practice MCQs
Q1. Exercise INDRA is a joint exercise between India and: (a) Russia (b) Indonesia (c) Israel (d) Iran
→ (a) The name combines INDia and RussiA; it began in 2003.
Q2. The Indian Navy ship that took part in INDRA 2026 at Vladivostok was: (a) INS Rana (b) INS Kuthar (c) INS Sahyadri (d) INS Shivalik
→ (c) INS Rana and INS Kuthar took part in INDRA 2025 off Chennai; INS Shivalik sailed to Vladivostok for an earlier edition.
Q3. INS Sahyadri belongs to which class of warships? (a) Talwar-class frigates (b) Shivalik-class (Project 17) stealth frigates (c) Kolkata-class destroyers (d) Kamorta-class corvettes
→ (b) It is the third of the three Project 17 frigates built by Mazagon Dock.
Q4. Vladivostok, where INDRA 2026 was held, is the headquarters of Russia's: (a) Northern Fleet (b) Baltic Fleet (c) Black Sea Fleet (d) Pacific Fleet
→ (d) Vladivostok lies on the Sea of Japan; the Baltic Fleet is based at Kaliningrad, where INS Tarkash and INS Tamal were commissioned.
Q5. The first tri-service edition of Exercise INDRA was held in: (a) 2017 (b) 2003 (c) 2010 (d) 2021
→ (a) It was held at Vladivostok in 2017; the second tri-service edition followed in India in 2019.
Q6. The name BrahMos, of the India-Russia supersonic cruise missile, is derived from: (a) the god Brahma and the city of Moscow (b) the Brahmaputra and the Moskva rivers (c) the Brahmaputra and Mount Elbrus (d) Brahmastra and Mosquito
→ (b) The missile is built by a joint venture of India's DRDO and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyeniya, set up in 1998.
Q7. Which of the following is the air force exercise between India and Russia? (a) Garuda (b) Red Flag (c) AVIAINDRA (d) Desert Knight
→ (c) Garuda is with France, Red Flag is hosted by the US and Desert Knight involves France and the UAE.
Q8. The INDRA 2025 naval exercise, described as the 14th edition, was held: (a) off Chennai in the Bay of Bengal (b) at Vladivostok (c) in the Baltic Sea (d) off Kochi in the Arabian Sea
→ (a) It ran from 28 March to 2 April 2025, with a harbour phase at Chennai and a sea phase in the Bay of Bengal.
Q9. The Indian Navy's last warship acquired from abroad, commissioned at Kaliningrad in 2025, was: (a) INS Vikramaditya (b) INS Tarkash (c) INS Teg (d) INS Tamal
→ (d) INS Tamal is a Talwar-class frigate; future warships are to be built in India.
Q10. The Sahyadri range, after which INS Sahyadri is named, is another name for the: (a) Eastern Ghats (b) Western Ghats (c) Satpura Range (d) Aravalli Range
→ (b) INS Satpura, another Project 17 frigate, is named after the Satpura Range of central India.
📋 How this gets asked (PYQ pattern)
India-Russia exercises appear regularly in the NDA GAT, and the questions concentrate on names, partners and services.
The first form is the partner question: "INDRA is a joint exercise between India and..." Israel, Indonesia and Iran are the usual distractors, because they share an initial letter. Remembering the derivation — INDia plus RussiA — removes the doubt.
The second is the service question. INDRA has been a naval, an army and a tri-service exercise, while AVIAINDRA is the air force exercise. Statements that INDRA is "only a naval exercise" or that the air forces exercise under the INDRA name are both inaccurate.
The third is the ship-class question, which INS Sahyadri invites: Project 17 (Shivalik class) against Project 17A (Nilgiri class), Project 15B (Visakhapatnam-class destroyers) and Project 28 (Kamorta-class corvettes). Project numbers paired with class names are a favourite matching grid.
A fourth is the place question: Vladivostok and its fleet, Kaliningrad and the Baltic Fleet, and the Chennai-Vladivostok corridor.
For the SSB lecturette or group discussion on India-Russia relations, the balanced point is that India has diversified its arms suppliers and expanded domestic production, but a large part of its existing fleet, aircraft and armour is of Russian origin, so the military relationship remains practically important. Exercises such as INDRA keep that relationship working at the level of crews and staffs, whatever the shifts in wider diplomacy.
Preparing for NDA? Keep a single table of exercises with partner, service and the latest venue — and update it every week. Build the base with our NDA study material, follow the daily NDA current affairs, and train with serving-standard faculty in the upcoming Cavalier courses in Delhi.
✍️ Written by Maj Sunil Chopra — Co-founder & defence faculty at The Cavalier. Reviewed by the Cavalier Faculty Desk.