INS Sahyadri, Kulish arrives in Philippines for ADMM-Plus maritime security activity

Subic, Philippines: Indian Navy ships INS Sahyadri and INS Kulish have arrived in the Philippines to participate in the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) Experts’ Working Group on Maritime Security Joint Cooperative Activity (MS JCA), scheduled in Subic, Zambales, from September 21 to 25.

The multilateral activity is being co-hosted by Japan and the Philippines and brings together maritime forces from India, ASEAN member states and other ADMM-Plus partners. Participating countries include Australia, Brunei, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore and the United States.

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The Indian contingent includes INS Sahyadri, a Shivalik-class stealth multi-role frigate, and INS Kulish, a Kora-class guided-missile corvette. Their participation adds both high-end surface combatant capability and operational experience to the multilateral maritime activity.

The activity is designed to strengthen maritime domain awareness, information sharing, interoperability and practical cooperation among participating maritime forces. It also incorporates a humanitarian-assistance and disaster-response dimension, reflecting the broader role of naval forces in responding to regional emergencies.

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The initial shore phase in Subic Bay will include a disaster-response tabletop exercise, subject-matter expert exchanges, ship open houses and cultural interactions, followed by a sea phase focused on practical maritime skills and interoperability.

India's participation adds another layer to its expanding defence engagement with the Philippines and Southeast Asia. India and the Philippines have an established defence relationship that includes a 2006 Defence Cooperation Agreement, a Joint Defence Cooperation Committee and a separate framework for defence-industry and logistics cooperation.

The naval engagement also comes amid the expanding India-Philippines maritime partnership. Both countries have conducted bilateral maritime cooperative activities aimed at improving interoperability and maritime-security coordination, while India has increasingly deployed naval assets across the Western Pacific and Southeast Asian waters.

For New Delhi, the ADMM-Plus activity provides an opportunity to work alongside ASEAN navies and major Indo-Pacific partners in a multilateral setting, complementing India's Act East policy and its broader vision of a free, open and inclusive maritime region.

The exercise also carries significance for India's wider engagement with ASEAN-led security mechanisms. India has participated in ADMM-Plus activities and has supported greater cooperation in maritime security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, counter-terrorism, defence industry and other areas under the ASEAN-India strategic partnership.

With INS Sahyadri and INS Kulish now operating alongside ships from several Indo-Pacific partners, the activity provides India with another platform to demonstrate its naval reach, operational interoperability and commitment to multilateral maritime security cooperation.

The deployment therefore goes beyond a routine port call: it places Indian warships inside a wider ASEAN-centred maritime-security framework, where practical cooperation and shared maritime awareness are increasingly important to regional resilience.

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