Milan is a biennial multilateral event hosted by the Indian Navy since 1995

India will host world’s largest naval exercise ‘Milan 2022’ from February 25 to March 4 this year in Visakhapatnam with likely participation of more than 45 countries, the Indian Navy said.

The decision to this effect was taken at the final planning conference for Milan 2022 held in a hybrid format on Wednesday.

A biennial multilateral event hosted by the Indian Navy since 1995, Milan in its 2022 edition will see the largest ever participation by navies from nearly four dozen countries.

The theme of Milan 2022 exercise is: ‘Camaraderie-Cohesion-Collaboration.’

Earlier, a statement of the Indian Navy had said that the official website for the forthcoming Multinational Naval Exercise - MILAN 2022 was launched by Rear Admiral Sanjay Sadhu, Chief Staff Officer (Technical), ENC on December 13.

Milan made a modest beginning in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands with participation of four littoral navies.

Over the last two and a half decades, Milan has progressively grown in magnitude with the previous edition in 2018 being attended by 17 countries.

During this period, the scope of exercise too has seen a progressive transformation.

Whereas, the interactions between friendly foreign countries earlier were predominantly harbour based, the scope of the event has been progressively expanded to include exercises at sea.

Towards further consolidating the gains accrued since its modest debut, MILAN 2022 has been scheduled for the first time at Visakhapatnam, the City of Destiny.

MILAN 2022 is the eleventh edition of the event and would be held under the aegis of Eastern Naval Command.

The harbour phase of MILAN 2022 from February 25 – 28, 2022 will allow participating navies to discuss maritime subjects of common concern and share solutions, the Indian Navy said.

The professional competitions and conferences planned during this phase shall build the operational tempo for the sea phase planned from March 1-4.

This phase would be utilized to consolidate upon the lessons learnt during harbour interactions and to build upon the experience of operating together at sea.