India kick-started a nine-day mega naval exercise — MILAN — in Visakhapatnam on February 19 with participation of around 50 navies.

What is MILAN?

• MILAN (Multilateral Naval Exercise) was first held in 1995 at Andaman and Nicobar Command. Apart from the Indian Navy, the navies of Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand participated in the inaugural edition.

• Since then, the exercise has since transitioned leaps and bounds in terms of number of participants and complexity of exercises. 

• Originally conceived in consonance with India’s ‘Look East Policy’, MILAN expanded in ensuing years with the government’s ‘Act East policy’ and Security And Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) initiative, to include participation from island nations in the Western Indian Ocean Region (IOR) as also IOR littorals.

• This biennial congregation of friendly navies, over the last two and a half decades, has progressively grown in magnitude.

• The event has been held biennially except for 2001, 2005, 2016 and 2020. While the 2001 and 2016 editions were not held due to International Fleet Reviews, the 2005 edition was rescheduled to 2006 due to the 2004 Tsunami.

• The previous edition of the exercise took place in 2022 in Visakhapatnam.

MILAN 2024

• MILAN 2024 aims to strengthen regional cooperation and maritime security, foster interoperability and understanding between participating navies and provide a platform for sharing best practices and expertise.

• Navies from the US, Japan, Australia, France, Bangladesh, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia, among others, are participating in the 12th edition of the 'Milan' exercise that is aiming to bolster maritime cooperation among like-minded nations.

• The exercise commenced with the arrival of 15 warships and one maritime patrol aircraft from friendly foreign countries.

• From the Indian Navy, nearly 20 ships including aircraft carriers Vikrant and Vikramaditya and nearly 50 aircraft including MiG 29K, Light Combat Aircraft Tejas and P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft are participating in the exercise.

• The harbour phase of the exercise is from February 19 to 23. The sea phase featuring various complex drills and manoeuvres will be from February 24 to 27.

• The harbour phase includes the opening ceremony, international city parade, international maritime seminar, Milan Tech Expo and table top exercise, among others.

• During the sea phase, the participating navies will conduct advanced air defence, anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare drills, the officials said.

• Gunnery shoots on aerial and surface targets, manoeuvres and underway replenishment would also be conducted.

• The naval exercise will involve large-force manoeuvres, advanced air defence operations, anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface operations.

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