On 5 November 2026, India and Myanmar began their first joint military exercise built entirely around relief work. Exercise Rahat Mitra, the maiden bilateral Tri-Services Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise between the two countries, opened at Chennai and ran from 5 to 6 November 2026.
According to the Press Information Bureau (PIB), the exercise brings together more than 300 personnel from all three services of both countries, and it is coordinated under the aegis of the Indian Navy. Its theme is 'Together for Humanity, Stronger through Partnership'. The release links it to India's Neighbourhood First policy and to the strategic vision of MAHASAGAR.
The name tells the story. Rahat means relief and Mitra means friend. This is not an exercise about firing at targets. It is about who carries the stretchers, who flies the helicopter, who speaks to whom on the radio, and how two armed forces that have never trained together in this field make a rescue work on the first day of a disaster.
The exercise at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Name | Rahat Mitra ("relief friend") |
| Nature | Bilateral tri-services HADR exercise: Army, Navy and Air Force of both sides |
| Edition | Inaugural (maiden) |
| Place | Chennai |
| Dates | 5 to 6 November 2026 |
| Strength | More than 300 personnel from both countries |
| Lead | Coordinated under the Indian Navy |
| Theme | 'Together for Humanity, Stronger through Partnership' |
| Policy frame | Neighbourhood First; MAHASAGAR |
What HADR means, and why armies train for it
HADR stands for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief. It covers the help that armed forces give after a cyclone, flood, earthquake or similar disaster, whether at home or abroad: rescue, medical care, food and water, shelter, repair of roads and bridges, and the airlift or sealift of supplies.
Armed forces are asked to do this because a disaster destroys exactly the things that civil agencies depend on: roads, telephone towers, hospitals and boats. The military arrives with what is missing:
- Mobility: ships that can carry hundreds of tonnes of relief and sit offshore as a base, helicopters that reach cut-off villages, and transport aircraft that can reach an airfield within hours.
- Self-sufficiency: field hospitals, engineers, communications and water-purification equipment that do not depend on the damaged local system.
- Discipline and command: the ability to organise hundreds of people quickly under one plan.
In India the national framework rests on the Disaster Management Act, 2005, which created the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). The armed forces support civil authorities when asked. For foreign relief, the Ministry of External Affairs coordinates and the armed forces carry out the tasks.
International humanitarian relief is guided by the principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality, set out in UN General Assembly Resolution 46/182 (1991). Independence was added in 2004. In plain terms, help goes where the need is greatest, and it is not a tool for taking sides. That is why HADR is regarded as the gentlest form of military diplomacy.
Why train together before the disaster
A first response is judged in hours, not weeks. The commonly cited "golden window" for rescuing people from collapsed buildings is the first 72 hours. Two forces meeting for the first time at the airport of a stricken city lose some of those hours to simple friction:
- different radio procedures and languages;
- different medical and triage standards;
- different ways of requesting and tracking supplies;
- uncertainty about who is in charge at which site.
A joint exercise removes those frictions in advance. The word for it is interoperability: the ability of two forces to work together smoothly. PIB says Rahat Mitra is meant to build exactly this, along with mutual trust and shared experience. A table-top plan can be written in a day, but trust takes repeated contact.
The fact that it is tri-services also matters. A relief operation is naturally joint. Ships carry heavy loads, helicopters move people and light cargo, aircraft bring specialists quickly, and the Army provides engineers, doctors and manpower on the ground. India's own annual joint HADR exercises, Samanvay 2022 at Agra and Chakravat 2023 at Goa, were built on the same logic.
The relief India has already carried to Myanmar
Rahat Mitra builds on real experience. The clearest example is Operation Brahma, India's response to the earthquake that struck Myanmar on 28 March 2025, reported at magnitude 7.7.
PIB records how it was run:
- The Indian Army sent a 118-member medical task force (the Shatrujeet Brigade Medical Responders, "Airborne Angels") and set up a 60-bed medical treatment centre, ready to handle trauma and emergency surgery.
- The Indian Navy sailed INS Satpura and INS Savitri from the Eastern Naval Command on 29 March, with INS Karmuk and LCU 52 from the Andaman and Nicobar Command following on 30 March. The ships carried about 52 tonnes of relief material in their first sailing: clothing, drinking water, food, medicines and emergency stores.
- The effort was directed by the Ministry of External Affairs, with the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff, the Army, the Air Force and the NDRF all taking part.
Operation Brahma was not India's only recent HADR effort in the region. Operation Dost (February 2023) took relief and rescue teams to Türkiye and Syria after their earthquake, and Operation Sadbhav (September 2024) sent supplies after Typhoon Yagi to Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. The Navy describes India's aim, in the PIB release on Operation Brahma, as being the "First Responder" in the region.
Operation Brahma was a real emergency, run at speed. Rahat Mitra gives both sides a chance to rehearse that kind of cooperation calmly, in advance.
Why Myanmar
Myanmar is not just another partner. Four facts make it central to India.
- It is India's land and sea neighbour in the east. The India–Myanmar border runs for about 1,643 km along Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram, and the two share the Bay of Bengal. Our explainer on the India–Myanmar border and security meeting covers the land border in detail.
- It is the gateway to Southeast Asia. It is the only country that is a neighbour of India and also a member of both ASEAN and BIMSTEC. The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project links Kolkata with Myanmar's port of Sittwe and onward to Mizoram.
- It is disaster-prone. The coast and delta region has suffered some of Asia's worst cyclones, most notably Cyclone Nargis in 2008, and the country lies on active seismic faults, as the 2025 earthquake showed. Joint preparation is a practical necessity.
- It is a growing maritime partner. PIB's note on the Chief of the Naval Staff's visit to Myanmar (2 to 5 May 2026) lists regular contact through defence cooperation meetings, staff talks, training exchanges, the India–Myanmar Naval Exercise (IMNEX), the Indo-Myanmar Coordinated Patrol (IMCOR), port visits and hydrographic surveys. It also records that Myanmar has taken part in recent Indian Navy events such as MILAN, the International Fleet Review, the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium and IOS SAGAR.
Rahat Mitra adds a new layer to this list, and it is a softer one. Naval exercises and patrols deal with the sea. A HADR exercise brings the Army and Air Force in as well, and its subject, saving lives, is one on which both sides can agree easily.
The policy frame: Neighbourhood First and MAHASAGAR
PIB ties the exercise to two ideas.
Neighbourhood First is the policy of giving priority to relations with India's immediate neighbours, shown through connectivity, trade and, in this case, a promise to be the first to help in a crisis.
MAHASAGAR stands for Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions. It extends the earlier SAGAR vision (Security and Growth for All in the Region), which the Prime Minister announced at Mauritius in 2015. MAHASAGAR widens the idea from the Indian Ocean to a broader set of regions and to a larger agenda of security, trade, capacity-building and sustainability. Our reports on the Navy chief's Mauritius visit and the Indian Navy's page in our Defence GK hub show how the Navy puts these ideas into practice.
Using the Navy to coordinate the exercise fits this frame. The Navy is the Service with the greatest reach abroad. Its ships can carry heavy relief across the Bay of Bengal, and they did so in Operation Brahma.
What the exercise does not say
PIB gives a clear but short account. It does not list the specific drills, the units taking part, the ships or aircraft involved, or the scenario that was rehearsed. So a careful reader should avoid inventing them. What the release does establish is the purpose: professional exchange, shared experience, interoperability and mutual trust, within a bilateral and tri-service format.
It also does not describe the exercise as a defence pact or an alliance. HADR is deliberately non-threatening, which is one reason it is a good first step for countries building trust. Larger and more sensitive exercises usually follow only after smaller, easier ones have worked.
What to watch next
- A second edition. The word "inaugural" suggests an intention to repeat, but PIB has announced no date or venue for a second edition.
- Linking to existing exercises. IMNEX (naval) and IMCOR (coordinated patrol) already exist. Rahat Mitra gives the relationship a joint, non-combat component.
- Real relief. The test of the exercise will be the next disaster. Operation Brahma showed what India can deliver; Rahat Mitra aims to make the work faster the next time.
🔑 Revision block
The exercise. Rahat Mitra, the maiden bilateral Tri-Services HADR exercise of India and Myanmar; Chennai, 5–6 November 2026; 300+ personnel; coordinated under the Indian Navy.
Theme and frame. 'Together for Humanity, Stronger through Partnership'; Neighbourhood First; MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions; successor to SAGAR, 2015).
HADR. Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief; aim: interoperability and trust; UN principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality (Res. 46/182, 1991), independence added in 2004.
Operation Brahma. Myanmar earthquake of 28 March 2025 (reported magnitude 7.7); 118-member Army medical team, 60-bed centre; ships Satpura, Savitri, Karmuk, LCU 52; MEA-directed.
Myanmar facts. Border about 1,643 km with Arunachal, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram; ASEAN + BIMSTEC; Kaladan project to Sittwe; existing naval links: IMNEX, IMCOR.
Indian framework. Disaster Management Act 2005; NDMA; NDRF; earlier joint HADR exercises Samanvay (2022, Agra) and Chakravat (2023, Goa).
🎯 Practice MCQs
Q1. Exercise 'Rahat Mitra', which began on 5 November 2026, is:
(a) A naval exercise between India and Thailand
(b) A counter-terrorism exercise between India and Myanmar
(c) A bilateral tri-services humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise between India and Myanmar
(d) A multinational air exercise hosted at Chennai
→ (c)
PIB describes it as the maiden bilateral tri-services HADR exercise between the two countries, held at Chennai.
Q2. 'HADR' in military terminology stands for:
(a) Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief
(b) Heavy Armour and Defence Readiness
(c) Hostile Area Deployment and Rescue
(d) High Altitude Defence Rehearsal
→ (a)
HADR covers rescue, medical care, supplies and repair work after a natural or man-made disaster.
Q3. MAHASAGAR, mentioned in the PIB release on Rahat Mitra, stands for:
(a) Maritime Alliance for Hindustan and South Asian Growth and Regions
(b) Mutual Assistance for Humanitarian Action and Security Along Regions
(c) Military Arrangement for Holistic Advancement of Security and Growth Abroad
(d) Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions
→ (d)
It carries forward the earlier SAGAR vision, Security and Growth for All in the Region.
Q4. India's relief operation after the Myanmar earthquake of March 2025 was named:
(a) Operation Dost
(b) Operation Brahma
(c) Operation Sadbhav
(d) Operation Ganga
→ (b)
Operation Dost was for Türkiye and Syria (2023), Operation Sadbhav followed Typhoon Yagi (2024) and Operation Ganga was the evacuation from Ukraine.
Q5. The India–Myanmar land border touches which set of Indian states?
(a) Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Sikkim
(b) Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram
(c) Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura
(d) Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura and West Bengal
→ (b)
The border of about 1,643 km runs along Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.
Q6. Which of the following is the best statement of why armed forces hold joint HADR exercises?
(a) To test new missiles on foreign soil
(b) To create a military alliance
(c) To replace civil disaster agencies
(d) To improve interoperability and trust so relief is faster in a real disaster
→ (d)
PIB stresses interoperability, mutual trust and coordination. Armed forces support civil agencies; they do not replace them, and HADR is not a pact.
Q7. Consider the following statements about India–Myanmar cooperation:
1. IMNEX and IMCOR are existing naval cooperation mechanisms between the two countries.
2. Myanmar is a member of both ASEAN and BIMSTEC.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
→ (c)
PIB's May 2026 note lists IMNEX and IMCOR, and Myanmar belongs to both groupings.
Q8. The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project connects Kolkata with which Myanmar port?
(a) Sittwe
(b) Yangon
(c) Dawei
(d) Thilawa
→ (a)
Kaladan links Kolkata to Sittwe by sea, then by river and road to Mizoram, giving the Northeast an alternative route.
📋 How this gets asked (PYQ pattern)
Bilateral exercises are a steady source of NDA General Ability Test questions, and they are asked in three ways.
The first is the pairing: which two countries hold a named exercise, and whether it is naval, air, army or tri-services. Learn each exercise as a pair, a service and a theme. Rahat Mitra is India–Myanmar, tri-services, HADR.
The second is the expansion: acronyms such as HADR, SAGAR and MAHASAGAR. Examiners give four similar-sounding expansions, as in Q3 above, so learn the exact words.
The third is the neighbour: geography and connectivity facts about the partner. For Myanmar they are the length of the border, the four states and the Kaladan project.
At the SSB, relief diplomacy is a strong lecturette topic. A good answer explains why helping a neighbour in a crisis builds influence without force, and uses a real case such as Operation Brahma.
Preparing for NDA? Keep a one-page list of every exercise you meet: partner, Service, place, year and theme. Pair it with an atlas page of the neighbour. 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, "India and Myanmar commence inaugural tri-services joint HADR exercise 'Rahat Mitra'", 6 November 2026; PIB releases on Operation Brahma (29 and 30 March 2025) and on the Chief of the Naval Staff's visit to Myanmar (2 May 2026). Operations Dost and Sadbhav, the magnitude of the 2025 earthquake and UN resolution details are from standard public records.
✍️ Written by Maj Sunil Chopra — Veteran, Indian Army; defence-studies & current-affairs faculty at The Cavalier. Reviewed by the Cavalier Faculty Desk.