Milan Exercise Brings Together 40 Navies in Indo-Pacific for Security Cooperation

C Bipindra

Milan Exercise Brings Together 40 Navies in Indo-Pacific for Security Cooperation

The 'City of Destiny' has paved the way for determining the security and safety for all in the Indo-Pacific region. Visakhapatnam, on the eastern coast of India's Andhra Pradesh province, was the host of the four-day biennial largest wargaming in the region from Feb. 25 to Mar. 4.

The Indian Navy played the good host, as MILAN-2022 is its baby. MILAN, as a serious multilateral naval exercise, had been previously hosted at Port Blair in Andaman and since the last couple of editions, Visakhapatnam has become the new host port.

The nine-day exercise had been divided into two phases. The first phase was at the harbour from Feb. 25 to 28 and the second between Mar. 1 to 4.

"India is celebrating the 75th year of its independence in 2022, and MILAN-2022 provided an opportunity to commemorate this milestone with our friends and partners," the Indian Navy said on the occasion.

The theme of the MILAN-2022 exercise was 'Camaraderie – Cohesion – Collaboration', which aimed to project India as a responsible maritime power to the world at large.

The aim of the exercise was to hone operational skills, imbibe best practices and procedures, and enable doctrinal learning in the maritime domain, through professional interaction between friendly navies.

The Past: The Indian Navy had incepted the MILAN series of biennial multilateral exercise in 1995 at Andaman and Nicobar Command. Since its inception, the event has been held biennially except for 2001, 2005, 2016 and 2020. While the 2001 and 2016 editions were not held due to International Fleet Reviews, the 2005 edition was rescheduled to 2006 due to the 2004 Tsunami. 2020 edition of MILAN was postponed to 2022 due to COVID-19.

In 1995, MILAN saw participation from only four countries: Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The exercise has since transitioned leaps and bounds in terms of number of participants and complexity of exercises.

Originally conceived in consonance with India's 'Look East Policy', MILAN expanded in ensuing years with the Government of India's 'Act East Policy' and 'Security And Growth for All in the Region' (SAGAR) initiative. Thus, MILAN expanded to include participation from island nations in the western Indian Ocean Region and the Indian Ocean littoral nations.

Participation increased from six regional countries to 18 countries in 2014 which included the Indian Ocean littorals. With Indian Navy's engagement with Friendly Foreign Countries (FFCs) expanding over the decades, a need was felt to further consolidate the naval cooperation by enhancing the scale and complexity of the MILAN exercise and engaging both regional and extra regional navies of the world.

Considering the infrastructure requirements of a large naval gathering, it was decided to shift the event to the mainland, and Visakhapatnam, being the Headquarters of Eastern Naval Command, was nominated to host the event.

The Present: MILAN-2022 witnessed the largest ever participation, with more than 40 countries sending their warships or high-level delegations to Visakhapatnam. This edition of MILAN was larger in "scope and complexity" with focus on exercises at sea including in surface, sub-surface and air domains and weapon firings.

The participation from Friendly Foreign Countries, includes 13 warships and one Maritime Patrol Aircraft, and 39 delegations. This large congregation gives significance and potency to the MILAN-2022 exercise.

Operational Conferences and Seminars were also conducted, providing participating navies and delegations an opportunity to express their views on maritime security. The high-profile foreign delegates comprised highest level naval leadership, agency heads, Ambassadors and equivalents.

Key events included an Opening Ceremony followed by inauguration of MILAN Village on Feb. 26. An 'Op Demo', followed by the International City Parade, was scheduled on the evening of Feb. 27, with participation of foreign contingents.

MILAN-2022 also hosted an International Maritime Seminar with the theme 'Harnessing Collective Maritime Competence through Collaboration' on Feb. 27-28.

Other activities included Professional and Subject Matter Expert Exchanges, DSRV demonstration, MILAN of Young Officers, Sports Fixtures, and Cultural Visits to Agra and Bodh Gaya for foreign visitors.

Among the top participants was Royal Australian Navy's Chief Vice Admiral Michael Noonan, who also called on Indian Navy Chief Admiral R. Hari Kumar in New Delhi, after attending the Harbour Phase of the MILAN-2022 exercise in Visakhapatnam. United States Navy's Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Samuel J. Paparo too joined the Habour Phase and held interaction with Admiral Hari Kumar in New Delhi. The Friendly Foreign Navies were seeking avenues to strengthen the growing cooperation between the two navies.

The Future: The Indian Navy is an instrument, not only for power projection, but also for diplomatic outreach. Towards this, conduct of joint and multilateral exercises is an important activity to bring together different navies.

While Navies may operate in different regions, there is always a need to co-operate on issues of common interest such as anti-piracy, HADR missions, and maritime security.

The Navy-to-Navy interactions enhance mutual understanding, cooperation and interoperability between maritime forces. MILAN-202 provided an invaluable opportunity to foster bonds of maritime brotherhood across the oceans.

(Courtesy: Defence.Capital)

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