By Andalib Akhter / New Delhi
India is all set to witness the largest gathering of navies from across the world as it will hold the next edition of Naval Exercise MILAN 2020. The Excercise will be off the coast in Vishakhapatnam.
In a written the reply in the Rajya Sabha the Minister of State Ministry of Defence, Shripad Naik today said that 41 countries including Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, South Korea, the US, the UK, Australia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Iran, Sri Lanka, Thailand among others likely to participate in the mega exercise.
The participation of such a large number of navies will not only help India improve its maritime cooperation with friendly nations but will also help in interoperability and it will help countries like Sudan, Myanmar, Cambodia, Eritrea, Comoros who will get to interact with major strategic actors in the IOR.
The first edition of the MILAN Exercises was in 1995 when just four countries from the neighbourhood including – Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand participated and the focus was on promoting deeper cooperation in areas like maritime security and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR). The exercise did not take place in 2016; India was hosting the International Fleet Review. And has over the years expanded from just four littoral navies to now 41 navies coming for Exercise MILAN 2020.
| 1. Indonesia | 8. France | 15. Mozambique | 22. Sudan | 29. Israel | 36. Qatar |
| 2. Thailand | 9. Malaysia | 16. Australia | 23. Somalia | 30. Kenya | 37. Egypt |
| 3. Sri Lanka | 10. Vietnam | 17. Myanmar | 24. New Zealand | 31. USA | 38. Tanzania |
| 4. Comoros | 11. Maldives | 18. Brunei | 25. Philippines | 32. Japan | 39. UK |
| 5. Saudi Arabia | 12. Oman | 19. Mauritius | 26. Cambodia | 33. Singapore | 40. South Korea |
| 6. South Africa | 13. Kuwait | 20. Iran | 27. Madagascar | 34. Bangladesh | 41. Russia |
| 7. Djibouti | 14. Eritrea | 21. Bahrain | 28. UAE | 35. Seychelles |