MILAN-2024 | Indian Navy, 51 Countries to Showcase Their Naval Might in Visakhapatnam

New Delhi: One of the largest maritime exercises, MILAN-2024 is a major endeavour by the Indian Navy to get together friendly foreign countries from across the globe. This year in 2024, 51 countries will participate in the event in Visakhapatnam and of these 15 countries are sending ships and one aircraft is also joining the exercise.

The Milan exercise comes from the Hindi word ‘meeting’ or ‘confluence’. The first edition of the Milan exercise was held in 1995 with the participation of 4 foreign countries, Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, as part of India's ‘Look East policy.’ The first 10 Milan exercises were conducted under the aegis of the Andaman And Nicobar Command (ANCO). As the Milan exercise grew in importance and required a bigger venue, Visakhapatnam (locally known as ‘City of Destination’) became the preferred venue for subsequent Milan exercises.