Pariksha SaathiColombo Security Conclave maritime exercise concludes in Visakhapatnam
A three-day Table Top Exercise (TTX) held under the Colombo Security Conclave (CSC) ended on 11 September 2026 at the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) in Visakhapatnam. Opened on 9 September by Rear Admiral Manoj Jha, Chief Staff Officer (Operations) of the ENC, it centred on building a 'Coordinated Response to Illicit Maritime Activities in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR)'. Over more than 72 hours, teams from CSC member and observer countries, including maritime security specialists, worked through simulated operational scenarios built around non-traditional threats: human trafficking, narcotics smuggling, maritime terrorism, and IUU (illegal, unreported and unregulated) fishing. They also reviewed existing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and streamlined information-sharing arrangements to strengthen collective Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). Unlike a live drill at sea, a table-top exercise tests coordination through discussion of simulated scenarios. The Defence Ministry linked the exercise to India's MAHASAGAR vision of security and growth across the region.
Drafted with AI assistance from a live web search; a second AI pass confirmed the official link above and checked a sample of the facts against it. Not line-edited by a human.
Learning context
The Colombo Security Conclave grew out of a 2011 trilateral maritime security arrangement between India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives at National Security Adviser level. Mauritius joined as a member in 2022 and Bangladesh in 2024. On 30 August 2024, member states signed a Charter and an MoU in Colombo to set up a CSC Secretariat. Cooperation runs along five pillars: maritime safety and security; countering terrorism and radicalisation; combating trafficking and transnational organised crime; cyber security and protection of critical infrastructure and technology; and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
Reference: President's Office, Maldives, on the 2024 signing of the CSC Charter
Check yourself: is the Colombo Security Conclave only a naval or maritime grouping?
No. It began with a maritime focus, but maritime safety and security is now one of five pillars, alongside counter-terrorism, trafficking and organised crime, cyber security, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
Revision task: map each threat discussed in the Visakhapatnam table-top exercise (maritime terrorism, narcotics smuggling, human trafficking, IUU fishing) to the CSC pillar it falls under.
Test yourself
Under the Colombo Security Conclave, a three-day Table Top Exercise on illicit maritime activities in the Indian Ocean Region ended on 11 September 2026 at which Indian Navy command?
Show the answer
Answer: Eastern Naval Command
The exercise at the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam worked through scenarios on human trafficking, narcotics smuggling, maritime terrorism and IUU fishing; a table-top exercise tests coordination through discussion of simulated scenarios rather than a live drill at sea.
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