Visakhapatnam to host multilateral naval exercise MILAN in February 2024

On Monday, 8 May 2023, the Visakhapatnam City Police Commissioner, CM Thrivikrama Varma IPS, and GVMC Commissioner Saikanth Varma IAS met Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, VSM, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command (ENC).

During their meeting at the ENC HQ, the officials discussed MILAN 2024, a multilateral naval exercise featuring naval forces from several allied countries, which will be hosted in Visakhapatnam next year. It may be recalled that the city played host to the exercise last year in February-March 2022, during which Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other state-level dignitaries shared the stage.

Biswajit Dasgupta expressed his appreciation for the city administration for the excellent bonhomie with the Indian Navy, especially during the president’s visit for Navy Day 2022. Further, he briefed the police and civic body commissioners about MILAN, scheduled at the ENC headquarters in Visakhapatnam in February 2024. As per the CinC, the 2024 edition will witness the participation of 59 friendly countries.

The multilateral naval exercise aims to enhance interoperability and cooperation and share best maritime practices amongst the participating navies. With the theme ‘Camaraderie Cohesion Collaboration’, MILAN 2022 unfolded in two phases- the harbour phase followed by the sea phase. During the harbour phase, discussions were held on maritime subjects of common concerns and their solutions. A total of 26 ships, 21 aircraft, and one submarine enthralled the public during the sea phase.

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