Exercise Milan

India will host its largest naval exercise, Ex Milan, early next year, to which 46 countries have been invited. Exercise Milan is scheduled for February 2022 and invitations have been sent to 46 countries with several of them confirming their participation. All quad countries will participate in the exercise, with the United States being invited for the first time.

Highlights

• Exercise Milan began in the year 1995.
• It takes place every two years and brings together the navies of all the countries in the region.
• It previously took place in Port Blair.
• It will now be relocated to Visakhapatnam, which offers more infrastructure and space.
• Guests include all countries bordering the Indian Ocean and countries in Southeast Asia.
• For the 2020 edition 40 countries were invited, but it was later cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• 20 boats participated in the tenth edition in 2018.
• The Navy’s engagement in the Indo-Pacific has grown enormously, with several countries interested in training with India.
• There are several trilateral calls in the region to which the Navy gives priority given its operational needs and relations with the countries.
• In 2019, India, Singapore and Thailand initiated an annual trilateral, and India wishes to include Indonesia in this exercise.
• It is a biennial multilateral naval exercise that began in the year 1995.
• The Navy has held 10 editions of the Milan Exercise on Synergy Across the Seas (Theme) to enhance professional interactions between friendly foreign marines and learn best practices from each other.

Conclusion

In recent years, India has signed a series of logistics support and target shipping agreements with various countries  to improve the operational response and  logistics of the armed forces in the region, and also to raise awareness of maritime dominance. These agreements were very helpful in significantly enhancing operational change.