Vizag to host naval exercise MILAN in March 2020

After hosting the International Fleet Review in February 2016, Visakhapatnam is gearing up to host multilateral naval exercise MILAN in March thisyear, officals said on Saturday.

MILAN is a biennial, multilateral naval exercise which commenced in 1995, and was conducted at Andaman and Nicobar Command until 2018, they said.

"It is being conducted for the first time on the mainland at Eastern Naval Command with increased scope and complexity of the exercise," a senior Navy official said.

The theme of the mega event -- Synergy Across the Seas -- would provide an excellent opportunity for operational commanders of friendly foreign navies to interact with each other in areas of mutual interest, the Navy said.

"The exercise is aimed to enhance professional interaction between friendly foreign navies and learn from each other's strengths and best practices in the maritime domain," it said.