13th edition of MILAN exercise concludes in Visakhapatnam

• The 13th edition of Indian Navy’s premier multilateral maritime exercise — MILAN — concluded on February 25.

• The closing ceremony was conducted onboard India’s indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant off the coast of Visakhapatnam.

• MILAN exercise was conducted alongside International Fleet Review (IFR) and the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) Conclave of Chiefs.

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 2024 in Visakhapatnam, which witnessed participation by 47 friendly foreign countries, across continents.

Highlights of MILAN 2026:

• The theme of the exercise was ‘Camaraderie, Cooperation, Collaboration’.

• MILAN 2026 witnessed participation on an unprecedented scale, comprising 42 ships and submarines and 29 aircraft. 

• These also included 18 ships from friendly foreign countries.

• Apart from integral helicopters onboard the friendly foreign country ships, maritime patrol aircraft from France, Germany and USA also participated. 

• MILAN commenced on February 19 with a harbour phase that featured bilateral engagements and international maritime seminar (IMS).

• This was followed by the ‘sea phase’, which comprised high-intensity operational drills focused on advanced warfare disciplines including integrated air defence and antisubmarine warfare exercises, maritime interdiction operations, communication exercises, and cross-deck flying operations.

• The exercise validated seamless coordination, rapid response capabilities and best practices, aligned with the vision of MAHASAGAR — Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)