Cape Town, Oct 14 (IANS) The India-Brazil-South Africa Maritime Exercise (IBSAMAR) remains an important platform for strengthening naval interoperability, maritime security cooperation and South-South strategic engagement. The ninth edition, IBSAMAR IX, has brought the three navies together at Simon’s Town, South Africa, in 2026.
IBSAMAR is a biennial trilateral maritime exercise involving the Indian Navy, Brazilian Navy and South African Navy. Established in 2008, it represents the maritime-security dimension of the IBSA Dialogue Forum, bringing together three major democracies from Asia, Africa and South America, the exercise is designed to strengthen interoperability, mutual understanding, operational cooperation and the exchange of best practices between the three navies.
The importance of IBSAMAR goes beyond conventional naval training, India, Brazil and South Africa are geographically separated and operate in different strategic environments, yet all three have extensive maritime interests and depend on secure oceans for trade, economic activity and national security. IBSAMAR provides them with a practical mechanism to develop common operating procedures and build familiarity between their personnel and naval forces.
The Indian Ministry of Defence has consistently described the exercise as a means of collective training, building interoperability and mutual understanding, and sharing best practices. Previous editions have incorporated both harbour and sea phases, combining professional exchanges with increasingly complex maritime training.
IBSAMAR has evolved considerably since its first edition. It is no longer limited to basic naval interaction, but has developed into a complex multinational maritime exercise involving warships, aircraft, special forces and a range of operational activities, the previous editions have included navigation and seamanship exercises, tactical manoeuvres, maritime-security operations, surface warfare, anti-air warfare, anti-submarine warfare, aviation operations, replenishment-at-sea training, maritime interdiction and Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) activities. Harbour phases have also included damage-control and firefighting drills, cross-deck interactions, professional exchanges and Special Forces cooperation.
These activities are important because interoperability cannot be established simply through diplomatic agreements, Naval forces have different communication systems, procedures, command structures and operational cultures. Repeated exercises allow personnel to understand these differences and develop the practical ability to operate alongside one another. IBSAMAR therefore acts as a training mechanism, confidence-building instrument and naval-diplomacy platform at the same time.
IBSAMAR expands naval engagement with partners beyond the immediate Indian Ocean Region. Brazil provides an important link with the South Atlantic, while South Africa occupies a strategically significant position between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Participation allows the Indian Navy to operate with two technologically and operationally different partner navies while strengthening India’s wider maritime diplomacy.
For Brazil, the exercise provides an opportunity to deepen cooperation with India and South Africa while increasing its engagement with maritime partners outside the South Atlantic. It also supports Brazil’s broader interest in maintaining a secure maritime environment and developing naval interoperability.
For South Africa, IBSAMAR reinforces the country’s role as an important maritime partner and host in the southern African maritime environment. Simon’s Town provides an established naval infrastructure from which multinational exercises can be conducted, while South Africa benefits from interaction with two larger navies possessing extensive operational experience.
The exercise consequently produces benefits for all three participants India gains greater exposure to South Atlantic maritime cooperation, Brazil strengthens its engagement with Indian Ocean partners, and South Africa reinforces its position as a maritime bridge between the two oceanic regions.
The larger significance of IBSAMAR lies in its character as South-South maritime cooperation. India, Brazil and South Africa are not formal military allies, and IBSAMAR does not create a collective-defence commitment between them, instead it establishes a practical framework through which the three countries can cooperate while retaining independent foreign and defence policies. This distinction is important as the exercise demonstrates that maritime cooperation does not necessarily require a formal alliance structure, regular naval interaction can improve trust, communication and operational familiarity without requiring the participants to adopt identical strategic positions. The exercise also has relevance to common maritime-security concerns, including piracy, trafficking, illegal exploitation of marine resources, maritime terrorism, threats to commercial shipping and the wider requirement for a stable maritime environment.
The 2024 edition, for example, combined naval warfare training with maritime-security and boarding activities, the strategic value therefore extends beyond the exercise itself. Every successful iteration contributes to a larger network of professional relationships between the three navies.
This continuing maritime partnership moves into its next phase with IBSAMAR IX in 2026, which is being conducted at Simon’s Town, South Africa. The ninth edition brings together the Indian Navy, Brazilian Navy and South African Navy, continuing the established trilateral format. The choice of Simon’s Town is strategically significant. The South African naval base has hosted several editions of IBSAMAR and provides direct access to the maritime approaches of the southern African region, the location also reinforces the geographical character of the exercise cooperation between three navies whose principal operating environments extend across the Indian and South Atlantic Oceans.
IBSAMAR IX will build on the operational lessons and interoperability developed through earlier editions, particularly IBSAMAR VIII in 2024. The previous edition brought INS Talwar, BNS Defensora and SAS Amatola together, supported by naval aviation and Special Forces elements, and included harbour activities followed by a demanding sea phase. The participating forces conducted tactical manoeuvres, aviation operations, maritime-interdiction activities and other combined serials.
The 2026 edition consequently represents more than another entry in the exercise calendar. It demonstrates that India, Brazil and South Africa intend to maintain the naval dimension of their strategic partnership through recurring operational engagement.
IBSAMAR IX comes at a time when maritime security is becoming increasingly interconnected. Shipping routes, energy supplies, subsea infrastructure, illegal maritime activity and strategic competition are no longer confined to individual oceanic regions. Events in one maritime theatre can generate consequences thousands of kilometres away.
The 2026 edition sees the Indian Navy represented by INS Tarkash, while the South African Navy is participating with SAS Amatola and the Brazilian Navy with BNS Barroso. The participation of these three warships provides the exercise with a practical platform for coordinated maritime training, professional exchanges and the development of greater familiarity between the participating navies. For India, IBSAMAR IX supports the broader objective of maintaining a capable and globally engaged blue-water navy, the deployment of INS Tarkash to waters off South Africa demonstrates the Indian Navy’s ability to undertake long-range overseas deployments while sustaining operational engagement with partner navies far from India’s immediate coastline, operating alongside the South African and Brazilian navies will further strengthen communications, coordination, seamanship and multinational interoperability, and for Brazil, participation through BNS Barroso reinforces its engagement with partners beyond the South Atlantic and provides another avenue for cooperation with the Indian and South African navies.
Moreover, for South Africa, the participation of SAS Amatola and the hosting of the exercise at Simon’s Town reinforce its role as an important maritime partner positioned between the Atlantic and Indian Ocean approaches. The geographical composition of the exercise is particularly relevant. India, Brazil and South Africa bring different operational experiences and occupy strategically important maritime positions, allowing IBSAMAR to connect naval cooperation across the Indian and South Atlantic Oceans.
IBSAMAR has evolved into an established mechanism for operational cooperation, naval diplomacy and maritime-security coordination between India, Brazil and South Africa. Its value lies in combining practical naval training with sustained professional and defence engagement between three independent maritime powers. The exercise does not represent the creation of a formal military alliance. Its importance lies instead in the gradual development of trust, interoperability and operational familiarity between three navies operating across different maritime theatres. As maritime-security challenges increasingly cross regional boundaries, this ability to cooperate across the Indian and South Atlantic Oceans gives IBSAMAR continued strategic relevance for India, Brazil and South Africa.
–IANS
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