From a few friendly ships, participation of navies for MILAN multiplies each edition
File photo of foreign navy personnel at a stall in the MILAN Village in Visakhapatnam
- Over the decades, MILAN has become an effective embodiment of India’s maritime strategy, epitomising capabilities and strengths
- The exercise has been bringing friendly navies onto a platform over the past three decades
Visakhapatnam: From a modest naval gathering in the mid-1990s wherein a few friendly ships came together, MILAN has emerged into a flagship maritime engagement of the Indian Navy three decades later. Today, MILAN stretches beyond just a mere exercise and serves as a platform that connects the Indo-Pacific through dialogue, seamanship, collaboration and partnership.
Although its origins trace back to 1995, the inaugural edition brought navies of the Bay of Bengal together to exhibit search and rescue operations, communication protocols and drills.
The inaugural edition of MILAN saw dual editions – MILAN 99 in Port Blair and MILAN West 99 in Kochi, fusing the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea in one framework.
With each passing edition thereon, MILAN broadened India’s circle of maritime friendship, firming up its standing as a responsible, responsive power in the Indian Ocean.
File photo of MILAN-2024 exercise hosted in Visakhapatnam
The initial 10 editions of MILAN were held in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. With growing complexity, the exercise is hosted in Visakhapatnam under the aegis of Eastern Naval Command. This would be the third consecutive time, Visakhapatnam is hosting MILAN 2026.
With Visakhapatnam’s established logistics and hospitality networks gaining an edge and complexity of the content doubling up, the City of Destiny has become a preferred destination for the maritime congregation.
After a brief interruption following the tsunami in 2004, MILAN resumed in 2006, symbolising resilience.
Barring 2016, where International Fleet Review was hosted and 2020 wherein the exercise was put off due to Covid-19 pandemic, MILAN has been witnessing a steady increase in its participation and inclusion of complexity in its fold.
Focusing on search are rescue and maritime domain awareness, MILAN 2012 hosted 14 countries.
With the theme focusing on Friendship across the seas, MILAN 2014 saw 17 nations taking part in the multinational drills and professional seminars.
In 2016, the exercise strengthened HADR coordination and operational synergy, underlining India’s growing reputation as a preferred security partner. MILAN 2018 welcomed African and Indo-Pacific navies.
In 2020, MILAN was slated to move from Port Blair to Visakhapatnam, home port of the Eastern Fleet and headquarters of the ENC.
Though postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, MILAN 2022 unfolded in Visakhapatnam with the participation of 39 countries and 13 foreign fleet ships joining Indian units.
Two years later, MILAN 2024, the 12th saw participation of over 47 navies, including 16 foreign warships and delegations from six continents.
MILAN Village, cultural tours, and the International Maritime Seminar preceded the Sea Phase exercises, where fleets rehearsed air defence, anti-submarine warfare, and replenishment operations.
For the visiting navies, the MILAN Village will reflect India’s cultural diversity. Visitors can witness an array of folk dances and traditional music bands presentation, exhibition of handicrafts and exquisite crafts along with regional cuisines.
This month, the MILAN Village is scheduled to be inaugurated on 15th evening and it remains open till February 21, providing a platform for entertainment, community engagement and exchanging culinary experiences.
Recalling her previous edition’s experience, creative design head of Sankalpa Art Village (Kalagramam) Jameelya Akula, says, “There was an encouraging response for the stall we had set up at the MILAN Village last time.
The edible items we displayed at the stall turned out to be an instant hit among the officials and sailors from the Republic of Korea Navy and other foreign navies.”
This edition too, Jameelya says that they are exhibiting Indian crafts, souvenirs, scarves, hand-towels and wooden lighthouses, organic laddus and protein bars made of jaggery, ghee nuts, sesame seeds, among other ingredients.
In addition, the Sankalpa Art Village is scheduled to host a workshop at the art village. Along with having hands-on experience at the tie-dye workshop, the naval officers will also witness folk dance performance as part of the workshop.
With over 70 countries participating in the 13th edition of MILAN 2026, it is going to be the largest exercise ever.
