Exercise Trishul to test India’s tri-service synergy in strategically sensitive Sir Creek sector

Pune: The marshy, salt-crusted expanse of the Sir Creek region — a narrow 96-km strip dividing India and Pakistan in Kutch of Gujarat — is set to become the focal point of India's next major tri-service military drill, Exercise Trishul.

Involving the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force, the exercise aims to validate India's growing capacity for integrated, multi-domain operations in one of the most strategically sensitive frontiers of the western coast.


Officials said the exercise will mark a major stride in the Indian armed forces' ongoing pursuit of joint operational capability, technological innovation and indigenous defence preparedness, particularly in the Sir Creek and adjoining coastal regions, which have emerged as crucial zones of operational focus for the Southern Command after Operation Sindoor.

Sir Creek has long been a vital area of strategic interest. Its proximity to key naval and air bases, vital coastal installations, and its vulnerability as a potential route for infiltration or maritime misadventure make it a critical frontier for both surveillance and deterrence.

"With the evolving nature of modern warfare — increasingly dominated by rapid manoeuvres, precision strikes and multi-domain integration — the Sir Creek region provides an ideal testing ground for tri-service coordination," a senior army officer told TOI. "The terrain demands agility, inter-service communication and technological adaptability, all of which Exercise Trishul aims to strengthen."

The exercise will see formations of the Southern Command executing complex ground manoeuvres in coordination with the navy's amphibious elements and the air force's aerial platforms. These coordinated operations will replicate scenarios of rapid mobilisation, real-time intelligence sharing and synchronised strikes across land, air and sea — key attributes of modern integrated warfare.

"The Sir Creek and adjoining coastal sectors are among the most operationally challenging environments. Conducting a large-scale joint exercise here allows us to validate amphibious and coastal defence capabilities under realistic conditions while reinforcing deterrence," the army officer said.

The amphibious phase of the exercise will involve coordinated landings by naval assets and army units on the Saurashtra coast, backed by air force surveillance and support. This drill will help refine command and control protocols, interoperability and rapid logistical response in coastal and creek environments that are often affected by tidal changes and unpredictable terrain, officials said.

Indian armed forces in the recent past found in the Sir Creek region abandoned boats coming from Pakistan. The sightings of these boats have increased in the last two years.