The 11th edition of Exercise Garuda Shakti, the joint special forces exercise between India and Indonesia, began at Banyuwangi, Indonesia on 27 October 2026. It runs until 6 November 2026.
The Indian contingent is drawn from the Parachute Regiment (Special Forces), the Army's special forces. The Indonesian contingent comes from the Indonesian Special Forces. The Ministry of Defence said the aim is to strengthen "mutual understanding, cooperation and interoperability" between the two forces.
This year the exercise is held in jungle terrain. The training covers:
- obstacle crossing and combat marksmanship;
- mountaineering;
- air assault training, in which troops are landed by helicopter;
- combat-hardening sessions;
- exchange of expertise on weapons, equipment and operating procedures.
It ends with a validation exercise that simulates a realistic operational scenario and tests the endurance, coordination and readiness of both contingents.
For an NDA aspirant the exercise is a standard defence current-affairs item. It also connects to two other parts of the syllabus: India's special forces, and the geography of Indonesia.
The series so far
The exercise alternates between the two countries. The last four editions show the pattern:
| Edition | Dates | Venue | Training focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8th | From 21 November 2022 | Sangga Buana Training Area, Karawang, West Java, Indonesia | Special operations, interoperability |
| 9th | 1-12 November 2024 | Cijantung, Jakarta, Indonesia | Jungle operations, strikes on terrorist camps |
| 10th | 3-12 December 2025 | Special Forces Training School, Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh, India | Counter-terrorism, sniping, heliborne operations, drones and counter-drone tactics |
| 11th | 27 October-6 November 2026 | Banyuwangi, East Java, Indonesia | Jungle operations, air assault, mountaineering |
Three points from the table are useful.
- The terrain changes with the host. In Himachal the 2025 edition trained in semi-mountainous terrain and added drone warfare, counter-unmanned aircraft systems and loitering munitions. The 2026 edition in Java returns to jungle operations.
- The spelling varies. The 2024 Indian release called the exercise "Garud Shakti"; the 2025 and 2026 releases use "Garuda Shakti". Both refer to the same exercise.
- Cijantung is Kopassus territory. The 2024 edition was held at the headquarters of Kopassus (Komando Pasukan Khusus), the Indonesian Army's special forces command, whose personnel made up the Indonesian side that year.
Who takes part
India: the Parachute Regiment (Special Forces)
The Indian Army's special forces are battalions of the Parachute Regiment, usually called Para (SF). They wear the maroon beret and are trained for raids behind enemy lines, counter-terrorism, hostage rescue and long-range reconnaissance. The Army's cross-border strikes of September 2016 were carried out by Para (SF) units.
Each Service has its own special forces, and the set is a frequent question:
| Force | Service or ministry | Raised |
|---|---|---|
| Para (SF) | Indian Army (Parachute Regiment) | Grew out of the Army's commando units formed after the 1965 war |
| MARCOS (Marine Commandos) | Indian Navy | 1987 |
| Garud Commando Force | Indian Air Force | 2004 |
| National Security Guard (NSG) | Ministry of Home Affairs, not the armed forces | 1984 |
The Armed Forces Special Operations Division (AFSOD), created in 2019, brings special forces of all three Services under a single tri-service command for joint missions.
Note that the NSG, called the "Black Cats", is a central armed police force under the Home Ministry. A question that lists it among the armed forces' special forces is a trap.
Indonesia: the Indonesian Special Forces
Indonesia's best-known special forces command is Kopassus, the Army's special forces, recognised by its red beret. Its long experience of jungle and island operations is the reason the jungle module carries so much weight in this exercise.
Why jungle training
Much of Indonesia is covered in tropical rainforest, on Sumatra, Borneo (Kalimantan) and New Guinea (Papua). India has similar terrain in its North-East. The Indian Army's Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School is at Vairengte, Mizoram.
Operating in jungle tests the skills the exercise lists. Navigation is difficult under a closed canopy. Rivers and steep slopes have to be crossed with ropes, which is why the syllabus includes obstacle crossing and mountaineering. Helicopters can land troops only in small clearings, so air assault drills matter. Engagements happen at short range, which puts a premium on marksmanship. Heat, humidity and disease wear troops down, and combat-hardening is meant to prepare them for that.
Four "Garudas" and several "Shaktis"
Exercise names are the most common defence question in the NDA paper, and these two words are the easiest to confuse.
| Name | What it is |
|---|---|
| Garuda Shakti | India-Indonesia special forces exercise |
| Garuda | Indian Air Force-French Air and Space Force exercise; the 2025 edition was at Mont-de-Marsan, France |
| Garud Commando Force | The IAF's own special forces, not an exercise |
| Garuda Shield | United States-Indonesia exercise, expanded into a multinational "Super Garuda Shield" |
| Samudra Shakti | India-Indonesia naval exercise, begun in 2018; its 5th edition was at Visakhapatnam, 14-17 October 2025 |
| Harimau Shakti | India-Malaysia army exercise |
| Udara Shakti | India-Malaysia air force exercise |
| Mitra Shakti | India-Sri Lanka army exercise |
| Shakti | India-France army exercise |
The Garuda, a mythical bird, is the national emblem of Indonesia, called the Garuda Pancasila. That explains why Indonesia's exercises with several countries carry the name.
India and Indonesia: the defence relationship
India and Indonesia are maritime neighbours. The Andaman Sea separates the Andaman and Nicobar Islands from the northern tip of Sumatra. Three bilateral military activities give the defence relationship its shape:
- Garuda Shakti: armies, special forces.
- Samudra Shakti: navies, a bilateral exercise.
- India-Indonesia Coordinated Patrol (Ind-Indo CORPAT): the two navies have patrolled along their International Maritime Boundary Line since 2002.
The political framework dates from May 2018. In Jakarta, Prime Minister Modi and President Joko Widodo raised ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and issued a Shared Vision of India-Indonesia Maritime Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. President Prabowo Subianto was chief guest at India's Republic Day in 2025. He was the fourth Indonesian President in that role: Sukarno was India's first Republic Day chief guest in 1950, and Indonesian leaders also attended in 2011 and 2018. In July 2026 the Prime Minister visited Indonesia as part of a three-nation tour.
Indonesia on the map
Banyuwangi is a good starting point for the geography questions the exercise can lead to.
- Location. Banyuwangi is the easternmost regency of Java, in East Java province, on the Bali Strait opposite the island of Bali. It lies near the Ijen volcano, known for its acidic crater lake and the blue flames of burning sulphur gas.
- An archipelago. Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state, with more than 17,000 islands. The main ones are Sumatra, Java, Borneo (Kalimantan), Sulawesi and New Guinea (Papua). Borneo is shared with Malaysia and Brunei, New Guinea with Papua New Guinea, and Timor with Timor-Leste.
- On the Equator. The Equator passes through Sumatra, Borneo and Sulawesi, which is why the islands have an equatorial rainforest climate.
- On the Ring of Fire. Indonesia sits where several tectonic plates meet, so it has more active volcanoes than any other country, along with frequent earthquakes and tsunamis. Our notes on plate tectonics and the Earth's interior explain why.
- The capital. Jakarta, on Java, is the capital. A new capital, Nusantara, is being built in East Kalimantan on Borneo.
- Straits. The Malacca Strait separates Sumatra from the Malay Peninsula. The Sunda Strait separates Sumatra from Java, and the Lombok Strait separates Bali from Lombok. The Wallace Line, a boundary between Asian and Australian animal life, runs through the Lombok Strait.
The straits are important to India's maritime security, because much of the trade between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific passes through them. The ocean relief and island types explain how archipelagos like Indonesia form.
🔑 Revision block
The event. 11th Exercise Garuda Shakti, India-Indonesia joint special forces exercise, Banyuwangi, East Java, 27 October-6 November 2026.
Contingents. India: Parachute Regiment (Special Forces). Indonesia: Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus took part in 2024).
Training. Jungle operations: obstacle crossing, combat marksmanship, mountaineering, air assault, combat hardening; ends with a validation exercise.
Past editions. 8th: Karawang (West Java), November 2022. 9th: Cijantung, Jakarta, 1-12 November 2024 (spelt "Garud Shakti"). 10th: SF Training School, Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh, 3-12 December 2025.
India's special forces. Para (SF), Army; MARCOS, Navy (1987); Garud Commando Force, IAF (2004); NSG is under the MHA (1984); AFSOD tri-service (2019).
Name traps. Garuda = IAF-France; Garuda Shield = US-Indonesia; Samudra Shakti = India-Indonesia navies (from 2018); Harimau Shakti and Udara Shakti = India-Malaysia; Mitra Shakti = India-Sri Lanka; Shakti = India-France.
Relationship. Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, May 2018; CORPAT since 2002; Republic Day chief guests from Indonesia: 1950 (Sukarno), 2011, 2018, 2025 (Prabowo).
Geography. 17,000+ islands; Equator through Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi; Ring of Fire; capital Jakarta, new capital Nusantara (East Kalimantan); Lombok Strait and the Wallace Line.
🎯 Practice MCQs
Q1. The 11th edition of Exercise Garuda Shakti in October 2026 is being held at: (a) Banyuwangi, Indonesia (b) Bakloh, India (c) Cijantung, Indonesia (d) Vairengte, India
→ (a) Bakloh hosted the 10th edition in 2025 and Cijantung the 9th in 2024.
Q2. The Indian contingent at Exercise Garuda Shakti is drawn from: (a) the MARCOS (b) the Garud Commando Force (c) the National Security Guard (d) the Parachute Regiment (Special Forces)
→ (d) MARCOS and the Garud Commando Force are the special forces of the Navy and the Air Force.
Q3. "Exercise Garuda" is a bilateral exercise between India and: (a) Indonesia (b) France (c) the United States (d) Malaysia
→ (b) It is an air exercise between the IAF and the French Air and Space Force.
Q4. Consider the following statements: 1. The National Security Guard is a special force of the Indian Army. 2. The Armed Forces Special Operations Division is a tri-service organisation. Which is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
→ (b) The NSG comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Q5. The India-Indonesia bilateral naval exercise is called: (a) Samudra Shakti (b) Mitra Shakti (c) Harimau Shakti (d) Varuna
→ (a) Mitra Shakti is with Sri Lanka, Harimau Shakti with Malaysia and Varuna with France.
Q6. Banyuwangi, the venue of the 2026 exercise, is located on the island of: (a) Sumatra (b) Bali (c) Java (d) Sulawesi
→ (c) It is the easternmost regency of Java, across the Bali Strait from Bali.
Q7. The Equator does NOT pass through which of the following Indonesian islands? (a) Sumatra (b) Borneo (c) Sulawesi (d) Java
→ (d) Java lies entirely south of the Equator, between about 6° and 9° South.
Q8. The Wallace Line, a boundary between Asian and Australian fauna, passes through the strait between: (a) Sumatra and Java (b) Bali and Lombok (c) Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula (d) Java and Borneo
→ (b) The Sunda Strait lies between Sumatra and Java, and the Malacca Strait between Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula.
Q9. The Indian Navy's Marine Commandos (MARCOS) were raised in: (a) 1971 (b) 1984 (c) 2004 (d) 1987
→ (d) The NSG was raised in 1984 and the IAF's Garud Commando Force in 2004.
Q10. India and Indonesia raised their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in: (a) 2011 (b) 2014 (c) 2018 (d) 2025
→ (c) It was agreed during the Prime Minister's visit to Jakarta in May 2018.
📋 How this gets asked (PYQ pattern)
Joint military exercises are among the most reliable current-affairs questions in the NDA General Ability Test, and they are asked in three forms.
The first is the pair question: "Exercise X is held between India and which country?" The distractors are always exercises with similar names, which is why the table of Garudas and Shaktis above is the most useful thing to learn from this article.
The second is the Service question: which arm of the forces takes part. Garuda Shakti is a special forces exercise, Samudra Shakti a naval one and Garuda an air one. A question can name the right country and the wrong Service.
The third turns the exercise into a map question: where the venue is, which island or strait is nearby, or which line of latitude passes through the country. For Indonesia, expect the Equator, the straits and the Ring of Fire.
At the SSB, a lecturette on "India's defence diplomacy in South-East Asia" can use this exercise. The point to make is that India uses a small set of regular exercises, one for each Service, to build working relationships with a maritime neighbour astride the main straits.
Preparing for NDA? Keep one running table of every exercise you read about: name, partner country, Service, latest venue. Revise it weekly and the exercise questions become easy marks. 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.
Source: PIB / Ministry of Defence, 27 October 2026. Past editions, venues and the related exercises cross-checked with earlier Ministry of Defence releases, All India Radio and independent defence reporting.
✍️ Written by Maj Sunil Chopra — Co-founder & defence faculty at The Cavalier. Reviewed by the Cavalier Faculty Desk.