The latest edition of the Indian Navy’s multinational exercise Milan-2022 is set to begin in Visakhapatnam on February 25.
It will take place over nine days in two phases, with the harbour phase taking place from February 25 to 28 and the sea phase taking place from March 1 to 4.
The Milan theme is ‘Camaraderie – Cohesion – Collaboration,’ with the goal of portraying India as a responsible maritime power to the rest of the globe.
According to a Navy announcement, the exercise’s goal is to improve operational skills, inculcate best practises and procedures, and facilitate doctrinal learning in the maritime domain through professional engagement with friendly navies.
The Indian Navy started Milan, a biennial multilateral naval exercise, in 1995 in the Andaman and Nicobar Command. Except for 2001, 2005, 2016, and 2020, the event has taken place every two years since its beginning. While the 2001 and 2016 seasons were cancelled due to International Fleet Reviews, the 2005 editions were postponed until 2006 owing to the disaster of 2004. Because of COVID-19, the 2020 edition has been pushed back to 2022.
In the 1995 edition, just four countries, namely Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, participated. However, exercise has progressed in leaps and bounds in terms of the number of participants and the complexity of the exercises since then.
In 2014, the number of countries participating expanded from six to eighteen.
With the Indian Navy’s engagement with Friendly Foreign Countries (FFCs) growing throughout the decades, there was a need to strengthen naval cooperation by increasing the volume and complexity of exercises and including both regional and extraregional navies from across the world.
Because of the infrastructural requirements of such a big naval gathering, it was decided to move the event to the mainland, and Visakhapatnam, as the Eastern Naval Command’s headquarters, was chosen to host the event.
More than 40 countries will send warships and high-level delegations to this edition, which will be the largest ever.
The’scope and complexity’ of this version would be expanded, with a focus on drills at sea, incorporating exercises in the surface, subsurface, and air domains, as well as weapon firings. There are also operational conferences and seminars held.
The highest level of naval leadership, agency heads, Ambassadors, and equivalents will be among the high-profile foreign delegates.
On February 26, there will be an opening ceremony followed by the inauguration of Milan Village. On the evening of February 27, there will be an Op Demo followed by an International City Parade with foreign contingents.
On February 27 and 28, it will conduct an International Maritime Seminar with the theme ‘Harnessing Collective Maritime Competence via Collaboration.’ Professional/Subject Matter Expert Exchanges, DSRV demonstrations, MILAN of Young Officers, Sports Fixtures, and cultural tours to Agra and Bodh Gaya for international visitors are among the other activities.
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