Why in news?
INS Sahyadri completed its participation in an India–Republic of Korea naval exercise at Busan on 29 October 2026. The Ministry of Defence announced the engagement on 3 November. It included professional exchanges in harbour and coordinated activities at sea with ROKS Munmu the Great. The exercise gave the two navies an opportunity to practise working together and understand each other’s operating procedures.
What kind of ship is Sahyadri?
Sahyadri is an Indian-built Shivalik-class guided-missile stealth frigate. It entered service in 2012. A frigate is a naval surface warship equipped for a range of missions. India’s High Commission in New Zealand describes Sahyadri’s roles as including operations against threats from submarines, aircraft and surface ships.
The ship’s stealth features reduce its radar cross-section: the strength of the radar reflection that a detecting system receives from it. This is one part of a warship’s design, alongside its sensors, weapons and ability to operate at sea. The name “Sahyadri” comes from the Western Ghats mountain range in India.
Busan’s maritime setting
Busan is on the southeastern coast of the Republic of Korea, commonly called South Korea. It lies beside the Korea Strait, which separates the southern Korean Peninsula from Japan. This places the city near the sea routes connecting the peninsula with the surrounding East Asian maritime region.
A port provides a place for visiting ships to berth and for personnel to meet before activities at sea. In a naval engagement, that setting also allows the crews to discuss the programme, familiarise themselves with another ship and prepare for coordinated operations.
What happens during the harbour phase?
The exercise’s harbour phase included operational briefings, cross-deck visits and exchanges between subject-matter experts. A cross-deck visit allows personnel to visit another ship and learn about how its crew works. Expert exchanges bring specialists together to discuss professional experience and established practices.
These activities help crews understand the people and procedures behind another navy’s operations. A briefing can establish the planned sequence of an activity, the communication arrangements and the responsibilities of those taking part. Such preparation gives the later practical activity a common starting point.
How practice at sea builds coordination
During the sea phase, Sahyadri and Munmu the Great undertook coordinated navigation, helicopter operations and joint maritime manoeuvres. These activities require ships and their crews to coordinate their movements and communicate clearly while conditions at sea continue to change.
Interoperability is the ability of different forces and systems to work together effectively. It depends on people understanding each other’s procedures and exchanging usable information. Repeated practice helps turn an agreed plan into coordinated action.
In a search at sea, for example, ships must coordinate the areas they cover and share observations. Shared procedures help crews combine those reports into a useful picture.
Conclusion
The exercise connected professional exchanges ashore with practice afloat. For the two navies, familiarity with each other’s people, ships and procedures supports the ability to coordinate at sea. The engagement also continues Sahyadri’s role in India’s naval interaction with partners across the Indo-Pacific.