Navies from 50 nations set sail for mega sea showdown in Vizag

Visakhapatnam: Elaborate arrangements are being made for the twelfth edition of Multilateral Exercise (MILAN) slated for February 19 to 27 as Visakhapatnam is spruced up with the Eastern Naval Command expecting largest ever participation to date with invites extended to over 50 countries.

The presence of a record number of participants from the friendly navies and a grand parade planned to mark its valedictory in the city have made the officials busy in giving a facelift to the city with the main focus on the beach road from the Fishing Harbour to the Appughar area.

"We are making all arrangements to extend a good hospitality to the delegates and make their stay in the city comfortable," said GVMC Commissioner CM Saikanth Varma after a review meeting.

"The main focus of MILAN 2024 is to enhance professional interaction between friendly navies and gain experience in multilateral large force operations at sea.

Flagship event MILAN is a biennial naval exercise incepted by the Indian Navy in 1995. Originally conceived as part of India's 'Look East Policy,' MILAN got extended in the subsequent years with the Government of India's 'Act East' policy and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Security and Growth for All' (SAGAR) initiative. MILAN 2022 conducted on and off Visakhapatnam by the ENC saw participation by 39 countries during February 25 to March 4. The opening ceremony of the event will be held at Samudrika Naval Auditorium on February 21 and International City Parade on the R Beach Road a day later.

Massive barricading has been done on the beach road. MILAN Village is also being recreated for the gala event. The Harbour Phase will consist of an international maritime seminar, Swavlamban Expo, subject matter expert exchange and meeting of young officers. Ships, maritime patrol aircraft and submarines of friendly foreign countries will take part in sea phase along with their counterparts of the host country.

They will participate in large force manoeuvres, advanced air defence operations, anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare operations.

In his Republic Day address, Vice Admiral Sameer Saxena, Chief of Staff, ENC complimenting the command for the high tempo of activities and the steadfast focus on ensuring operational readiness, brought out that the ships, submarines and aircraft of ENC have extended their operational footprint around the entire globe. Deployments of the ENC units to the West Coast of Africa, Japan, Australia and to various IOR littorals have reinforced and showcased ENC's capability to undertake and support operations at extended ranges.

He also extolled the efforts of ENC units in supporting various endeavours of national importance including supporting India's quest of a manned space mission, Gaganyaan and activities undertaken towards the goal of Atma Nirbharta. The Chief of Staff acknowledged the unstinting and relentless efforts of various support agencies of ENC in supporting the high operational tempo.

The Vice Admiral said a host of activities are planned in the near future including MILAN 2024 and large scale theatre level and multilateral exercises.

He emphasised that during the current edition of MILAN, representatives from over 50 countries including 20 ships and aircraft will arrive in the City of Destiny and underscored the importance of wholehearted participation of the entire command in making the event a grand success.