Indian Navy’s Exercise Milan 22 begins on Friday
40 countries are participating in the exercise to be held over nine days

The Indian Navy’s biennial multilateral Exercise Milan will begin on Friday in Visakhapatnam with ‘more than 40 countries sending their warships/ high level delegations’.

According to a navy statement, “The theme of the MILAN 2022 exercise is ‘Camaraderie – Cohesion – Collaboration’ which aims to project India as a responsible maritime power to the world at large. 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.”

Exercise Milan 22 will be held over nine days in two phases, ‘with the harbour phase scheduled from 25 to 28 February and Sea Phase from 01 to 04 March’.

The navy said the exercise would be larger in ‘scope and complexity’ from previous editions with a focus on ‘surface, sub-surface and air domains and weapon firings’.

Events scheduled during Exercise Milan after the opening ceremony include the inauguration of the ‘MILAN Village’ on February 26, an operational demonstration followed by an International City Parade on February 27 with ‘participation of foreign contingents’. An International Maritime Seminar on Harnessing Collective Maritime Competence through Collaboration will also be held on February 27 and February 28. Additionally, the navy said the exercise will also see Professional and Subject Matter Expert Exchanges, DSRV demonstration, MILAN of Young Officers, Sports Fixtures, and Cultural Visits to Agra and Bodh Gaya for foreign visitors.

Exercise Milan was first held in 1995 with four countries at Andaman and Nicobar Command. “Considering the infrastructure requirements of a large naval gathering, it was decided to shift the event to mainland, and Visakhapatnam, being the Headquarters of Eastern Naval Command, was nominated to host the event,” said the navy.