diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/replication/action/status/ShardInfoRequest.kt b/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/replication/action/status/ShardInfoRequest.kt
index 40c0d560..23549470 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/replication/action/status/ShardInfoRequest.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/replication/action/status/ShardInfoRequest.kt
@@ -39,7 +39,11 @@ class ShardInfoRequest : BroadcastRequest<ShardInfoRequest> , ToXContentObject {
     }
 
     override fun validate(): ActionRequestValidationException? {
-        return null
+        var validationException = ActionRequestValidationException()
+        if(indexName.isEmpty()) {
+            validationException.addValidationError("Index name must be specified to obtain replication status")
+        }
+        return if(validationException.validationErrors().isEmpty()) return null else validationException
     }
 
     override fun indices(): Array<String> {
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/replication/rest/ReplicationStatusHandler.kt b/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/replication/rest/ReplicationStatusHandler.kt
index 7e1d926e..50f6f388 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/replication/rest/ReplicationStatusHandler.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/org/opensearch/replication/rest/ReplicationStatusHandler.kt
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ class ReplicationStatusHandler : BaseRestHandler() {
 
     @Throws(IOException::class)
     override fun prepareRequest(request: RestRequest, client: NodeClient): RestChannelConsumer {
-        val index = request.param("index")
+        val index = request.param("index", "")
         var isVerbose = (request.paramAsBoolean("verbose", false))
         val indexReplicationStatusRequest = ShardInfoRequest(index,isVerbose)
         return RestChannelConsumer {
diff --git a/src/test/kotlin/org/opensearch/replication/integ/rest/ReplicationStatusIT.kt b/src/test/kotlin/org/opensearch/replication/integ/rest/ReplicationStatusIT.kt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4b4e3762
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/kotlin/org/opensearch/replication/integ/rest/ReplicationStatusIT.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ *
+ * The OpenSearch Contributors require contributions made to
+ * this file be licensed under the Apache-2.0 license or a
+ * compatible open source license.
+ *
+ * Modifications Copyright OpenSearch Contributors. See
+ * GitHub history for details.
+ */
+
+package org.opensearch.replication.integ.rest
+
+import org.assertj.core.api.Assertions
+import org.junit.Assert
+import org.opensearch.client.RequestOptions
+import org.opensearch.client.ResponseException
+import org.opensearch.client.indices.CreateIndexRequest
+import org.opensearch.replication.MultiClusterAnnotations
+import org.opensearch.replication.MultiClusterRestTestCase
+import org.opensearch.replication.startReplication
+import org.opensearch.replication.stopReplication
+import org.opensearch.replication.StartReplicationRequest
+import org.opensearch.replication.replicationStatus
+import org.opensearch.replication.`validate status syncing response`
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
+
+@MultiClusterAnnotations.ClusterConfigurations(
+    MultiClusterAnnotations.ClusterConfiguration(clusterName = LEADER),
+    MultiClusterAnnotations.ClusterConfiguration(clusterName = FOLLOWER)
+)
+class ReplicationStatusIT: MultiClusterRestTestCase() {
+
+    fun `test replication status with valid params`() {
+        val followerClient = getClientForCluster(FOLLOWER)
+        val leaderClient = getClientForCluster(LEADER)
+        val indexName = "test-status-valid-param"
+        createConnectionBetweenClusters(FOLLOWER, LEADER)
+        val createIndexResponse = leaderClient.indices().create(CreateIndexRequest(indexName), RequestOptions.DEFAULT)
+        Assertions.assertThat(createIndexResponse.isAcknowledged).isTrue()
+        try {
+            followerClient.startReplication(StartReplicationRequest("source", indexName, indexName), waitForRestore = true)
+            assertBusy({
+                var statusResp = followerClient.replicationStatus(indexName)
+                `validate status syncing response`(statusResp)
+            }, 30, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+        } finally {
+            followerClient.stopReplication(indexName)
+        }
+    }
+
+    fun `test replication status without valid params`() {
+        val followerClient = getClientForCluster(FOLLOWER)
+        createConnectionBetweenClusters(FOLLOWER, LEADER)
+        try {
+            followerClient.replicationStatus("")
+            Assert.fail("Status API shouldn't succeed in this case")
+        } catch (e: ResponseException) {
+            Assert.assertEquals(e.response.statusLine.statusCode, 400)
+            Assert.assertTrue(e.message != null)
+            Assert.assertTrue(e.message!!.contains("Index name must be specified to obtain replication status"))
+        }
+    }
+}