The fourth India-Sri Lanka Diving Exercise (DIVEX 2026) is underway in Colombo, reinforcing maritime cooperation and professional ties between the Indian Navy and the Sri Lanka Navy.
The exercise focuses on complex underwater operations, including mixed-gas diving drills conducted off the coast of Colombo. It aims to enhance joint capabilities in underwater search, rescue and salvage missions while strengthening coordination in the Indian Ocean region, according to Newswire.
DIVEX 2026 is the latest in a widening portfolio of India-Sri Lanka joint exercises. Earlier this year, INS Nireekshak made a port call at Colombo, and the two navies have regularly held surface, anti-piracy and maritime interdiction drills together.
The exercise comes at a time when Indian Ocean sea lanes near Sri Lanka have become an active US naval enforcement zone for Iran sanctions. US forces have interdicted at least three Iran-linked tankers in waters near Sri Lanka, India and Malaysia in the past two weeks, making regional maritime security coordination more important.
Diving exercises are a specialised branch of joint naval training. Mixed-gas diving allows saturation divers to work at greater depths for longer periods, useful for deep-sea search, wreck recovery and offshore infrastructure inspections. The Sri Lanka Navy maintains a dedicated diving unit based at Welisara.
The bilateral DIVEX series reflects the security component of India-Sri Lanka defence cooperation, which spans from energy infrastructure through to port security and naval training.
