Exercise AUSTRAHIND 2026 got under way on Monday at the Foreign Training Node in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, with around 120 soldiers each from the Indian Army and the Australian Army. For the first time, a team of observers from New Zealand has joined them.

The drills run for two weeks, until 1 November.

Exercise AUSTRAHIND 2026: who is taking part

The Indian contingent is drawn mainly from the Garhwal Rifles, along with personnel from other arms and services. The Australian soldiers come from the Australian Army's 13 Brigade. According to the Ministry of Defence, this is the fifth edition of the exercise.

The two armies host it by turn. Last year's round was held at Irwin Barracks in Perth, Australia, from 13 to 26 October 2025, so this time the Australians have made the trip to Kerala.

Garhwal Rifles troops also made up most of the Indian contingent at Exercise KAZIND-2026 in Kazakhstan, which ended earlier this month.

New Zealand joins as observer

The New Zealand delegation will not take part in the drills. Its officers will watch how the Indian and Australian troops plan and carry out operations together over the next fortnight.

At Monday's opening, the contingents posed with drones, inflatable boats, light vehicles and army dogs.

What the soldiers will practise

The theme for Exercise AUSTRAHIND 2026 is Joint Sub-Conventional Operations in Island and Coastal Environment under Chapter VII of the UN Mandate. That is a mouthful. Put simply, the troops are training for the kind of security mission the United Nations could authorise on an island or along a coastline, short of a full-scale war. Chapter VII of the UN Charter is the part that allows the Security Council to approve action to restore peace, including the use of force where needed.

Sub-conventional operations cover tasks such as counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism and peace enforcement.

The schedule covers joint planning, tactical drills and combat-oriented exercises, with training in the air and sea dimensions as well.

Coasts, islands and disaster relief

The focus areas listed by the ministry are coastal and island operations, surveillance and reconnaissance, and the protection of vital installations. Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, known in military shorthand as HADR, is on the list as well.

HADR is familiar ground for both armies. Cyclones, floods and tsunamis strike the Indian Ocean region often, and soldiers are usually among the first to reach cut-off areas.

Why India and Australia train together

The stated aim is to build interoperability, mutual trust and closer cooperation between the two armies, and to support peace and security in the Indo-Pacific. In plain terms, interoperability means soldiers from both countries can work side by side using shared procedures, without having to learn each other's methods in the middle of a crisis.

The Indian Army runs similar exercises with a long list of partner nations every year.

Ties with Australia go well beyond the Army. Indian Air Force Rafale jets flew at Exercise Pitch Black 2026 in Darwin earlier this year, and in September an Indian Coast Guard ship sailed to Perth carrying sea riders from the four Quad nations under the Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission.