What is MILAN 2022 and when is it happening in Visakhapatnam?

The Indian Navy is all set to host its biggest maritime exercise, MILAN 2022, with an impressive theme ‘Camaraderie Cohesion Collaboration.’ Hosting it for the first time from the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) headquarters, the city of Visakhapatnam has been decked up for the various activities lined up from 25 February 2022 to 4 March 2022. MILAN, the Multilateral Naval exercise conducted by the Indian Navy, is a way of bringing together friendly navies from across the world.

If you have been wondering what MILAN is and the purpose of this naval exercise, read on to find out.

Genesis

The term MILAN is derived from a Sanskrit phrase, meaning “unification”, “coming together” or “a gathering of people”. With the agenda of bringing the world’s navies together under one roof, MILAN was first started in 1995. Conducted for the first time in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, four littoral navies Thailand, Singapore, Srilanka, and Indonesia participated in this Multilateral Naval Exercise. Over the years, the biennial congregation of friendly navies has progressively grown. The previous edition of this naval exercise, which was held at Port Blair in 2018, witnessed the participation of 17 countries. While the interaction between the friendly countries was previously harbour based, the scope of the same has now been expanded to include exercises at sea.

The multilateral naval exercise, MILAN, also hosts a set of social events and sporting fixtures along with exercises and seminars among the participating navies. The local residents will also be allowed to witness a few activities of this exercise, while most of the discussions are only for the participating navies.

MILAN 2022

Coinciding with the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence, MILAN 2022 the biennial event is all set to take place between 25 February 2022 to 4 March 2022. MILAN 2022 is expected to host 46 friendly navies to encourage discussions and solve common issues while celebrating each other’s traditions and absorbing best practices in the maritime domain. All Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) Nations have also been invited, making it the first time for Australia, Japan, and the United States to participate in this prestigious exercise.

The event which will be hosting a warfare exercise for the first time ever since its inception is divided into two phases. The first phase, from 25 February 2022 to 28 February 2022, will hold discussions at the Harbour on maritime subjects of common concerns and share solutions. The professional discussions are set to build the operational tempo for phase two.

The second phase is to be conducted between 1 March 2022 and 4 March 2022. This phase will be called the sea phase and is all set to conduct exercises at sea for all the participating navies in order to build upon the experience of operating together at sea.

Happening for the first time in Visakhapatnam, the prestigious naval exercise, MILAN 2022, aims to pave the way for enhanced maritime cooperation along with ensuring immense professional value for participating for all the navies.