JIMEX-24 was held at and off Yokosuka in Japan — option 1.

About the exercise. JIMEX is the bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. It began in 2012 and is held alternately in Indian and Japanese waters. The 2024 edition, the eighth in the series, took place in June 2024 at Yokosuka, the main naval base south of Tokyo, and in the adjoining waters. India was represented by ships of the Eastern Fleet, and the Japanese side by units of the JMSDF.

What such an exercise involves. The harbour phase covers cross-deck visits, professional exchanges and joint planning; the sea phase covers anti-submarine warfare, gunnery, replenishment at sea, helicopter operations, air-defence drills and complex manoeuvres. The purpose is interoperability — making sure two navies can communicate, refuel and fight together at short notice.

The wider setting. India and Japan are both members of the Quad, along with the United States and Australia, and both have a direct interest in freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific. The two countries also signed an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement in 2020 allowing each navy to use the other’s bases for supplies and repair, which is what makes an exercise hosted at Yokosuka a natural step.

Other India-Japan exercises worth distinguishing are Dharma Guardian with the armies, Veer Guardian with the air forces, and Malabar, which is the larger multilateral naval exercise of all four Quad members.

Hence, the answer is Yokosuka, Japan.