51 friendly foreign navies to take part in ‘MILAN-2024’

Visakhapatnam : warships and aircraft are set to converge in Visakhapatnam from various nations for the largest multilateral naval exercise ‘MILAN-2024’, Indian Navy flexes its muscles to showcase its might and enhance collaboration and global maritime security.

After its humble inception in 1995 with four participating navies, the biennial multinational naval exercise has grown into a mammoth event presenting India’s progress in nurturing naval diplomacy and stature.

As the magnitude of the exercise continues to grow with each passing edition, Visakhapatnam is considered as the most sought-after hosting base for MILAN for apparent reasons.

One, Port Blair has a limited capacity of berthing ships. Two, the Eastern Naval Command is located in Visakhapatnam. Three, the ENC has a much higher strength of personnel to undertake the exercise at such a large scale. Four, the convenience the city lends in terms of security, hospitality and other allied facilities to carry out the large scale event.

After its successful completion of hosting the mega event in the city in 2022 that saw a participation of 39 friendly-foreign nations, Visakhapatnam is bracing for ushering in 51 countries in the 12th edition of MILAN-2024. The participation is considered as one of the largest editions hosted in the city under the aegis of the Eastern Naval Command.

Even as the first 10 editions of the biennial multinational event were held under the aegis of the Andaman Nicobar Command, Visakhapatnam turned out to be the preferred choice of destination for subsequent editions. Over the last two-and-a-half decades, the biennial congregation of the friendly navies has progressively made enormous strides in its magnitude and scale. If things fall in place as envisaged, Visakhapatnam is likely to become the preferred destination for the subsequent editions of MILAN as well.

Back in 2016, International Fleet Review was held in Visakhapatnam with an involvement of 50 navies on the Eastern Seaboard. Comprising two phases, including harbour and sea, the MILAN-2024 is scheduled to be held under the ENC in Visakhapatnam from February 19 to 27. While the harbour phase aims at strengthening the ties with participating navies through a series of cultural exchange programmes and international events, the sea phase will see a convergence of warships, Indian submarines and aircraft exhibiting their might in a host of events, including large force manoeuvres, anti-submarine warfare and advanced air defence operations. From its humble beginnings to a mammoth biennial exercise, MILAN aims to enhance interoperability and maritime security by roping in friendly-foreign nations on to a platform.

With the landing of the French maritime patrol aircraft Atlantique-2 and Airbus A400 in INS Dega, the Naval Dockyard and Naval Air Station are set to become busier in the coming days.