India skips South Africa-led naval exercise as it’s not ‘institutionalised’ BRICS activity

India on Saturday (January 17, 2026) said it skipped a South Africa-initiated multilateral naval wargame featuring a number of BRICS countries as the exercise was not an institutional activity under the grouping.

The exercise held in South African waters comprised the navies of China, Russia Iran, Egypt, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) among others.

The week-long military wargame took place amid increasing tensions in Iran over possible military strikes on the country over its crackdown on anti-government protesters.

“We clarify that the exercise in question was entirely a South African initiative in which some BRICS members took part,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

“It was not a regular or institutionalised BRICS activity, nor did all BRICS members take part in it,” he said.

Mr. Jaiswal was responding to media queries on India’s absence from the so-called “BRICS naval exercise”.

The MEA spokesperson said India has not participated in previous such activities.

“The regular exercise that India is a part of in this context is the IBSAMAR maritime exercise that brings together the navies of India, Brazil and South Africa,” he said.

The last edition of IBSAMAR (India-Brazil-South Africa Maritime) was held in October 2024.

India is the current chair of BRICS.

BRICS, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, expanded in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE, with Indonesia joining in 2025.

It has emerged as an influential group representing around 49.5% of the global population, around 40% of the global GDP and around 26% of the global trade.