57 friendly foreign countries to join largest multilateral naval exercise

Visakhapatnam: As many as 57 friendly foreign countries across continents are taking part in the ensuing largest naval exercise ‘MILAN 2024’ scheduled from February 19 to 27 in Visakhapatnam.

The prestigious biennial multilateral maritime exercise includes operational, social and cultural exchanges during the event to be organised under the aegis of Eastern Naval Command (ENC).

The 12th edition of MILAN provides an opportunity for participating navies to share operational insights in harbour, enhance camaraderie and gain an exposure to Indian culture and aims to pave the way for enhanced maritime cooperation.

Subject matter expert exchanges and table top exercise, international maritime seminar, among others, form a part of the harbour exercise, while the sea phase will witness a gamut of operational drills, weapon firings, anti-submarine warfare and air defence exercises and tactical

manoeuvres.

The naval exercise hosted by India commenced with a participation of four navies in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 1995. They included Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and

Thailand.

Over the years, the biennial congregation of friendly navies has progressively grown in its scale and magnitude. From the participation of 39 friendly foreign navies in 2022 held in Visakhapatnam under the aegis of the ENC, the 2024 edition would see an increased participation of 57 navies from across the continents. On Friday, officials from various departments reviewed the arrangements made for the coveted exercise. Arranging double barricades, CCTV cameras, LED screens were looked into by the police and district officials. DCPs K Srinivasa Rao and K Anand Reddy, among other officials, examined the stretch where double barricades would be placed. From Naval Coastal Battery to RK Beach and VUDA Park junction, the officials intend to place double barricades on either side of the roads.