Indian Navy is all set for the biggest maritime exercise - MILAN 2022. As many as 40 countries will be participating in this naval exercise which is scheduled to commence from 25 February in Vishakapatnam. Amid escalating Ukraine-Russia tensions, warships of Quad countries, France, Myanmar, S Korea, Vietnam, and several others will join together at Vizag later this week for the Indian Navy’s MILAN exercise.
Out of the 46 countries invited, around 40 have confirmed participation-- while 13 are sending their warships, the rest will be represented by their delegations. US, Japan and Australia that form the QUAD along with India will send their warships. Sri Lanka, Singapore, Seychelles and France are also among those sending their ships for the multi-nation exercise from February 25 to March 6 off the coast of Visakhapatnam. It will be conducted over a duration of 9 days in two phases with the harbour phase scheduled from 25 to 28 February and the sea phase from 01 to 04 March.
The aim of the exercise is to hone operational skills, imbibe best practices and procedures, and enable doctrinal learning in the maritime domain, through professional interaction between friendly navies. It also being noted that the exercise is significant in wake of Chinese aggression is growing in the Indian Ocean region.
About MILAN
MILAN is a biennial multilateral naval exercise incepted by Indian Navy in 1995 at Andaman and Nicobar Command. Since its inception, 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 editions was rescheduled to 2006 due to the 2004 Tsunami. 2020 edition of MILAN was postponed to 2022 due to COVID-19.
Starting with the participation of only four countries, viz Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand, in the 1995 edition, 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 IOR as also IOR littorals.
Participation increased from six regional countries to 18 countries in 2014 which included IOR littorals. With Indian Navy’s engagement with Friendly Foreign Countries (FFCs) expanding over the decades, a need was felt to further consolidate the naval cooperation by enhancing the scale and complexity of the MILAN exercise and engaging both regional and extra-regional navies of the world. Considering the infrastructure requirements of a large naval gathering, it was decided to shift the event to the mainland, and Visakhapatnam, being the Headquarters of Eastern Naval Command, was nominated to host the event.
MILAN 2022 edition
This edition will witness its largest-ever participation, with more than 40 countries sending their warships/high-level delegations. This edition of MILAN would be larger in ‘scope and complexity with a focus on exercises at sea including exercises in surface, sub-surface, and air domains and weapon firings. Operational Conferences and Seminars are also being conducted, providing participating navies/ delegations an opportunity to express their views on maritime security. The high-profile foreign delegates will comprise the highest level naval leadership, agency heads, Ambassadors, and equivalent.