NEW DELHI, 28 February 2022, (TON): The biennial multilateral naval exercise Milan 22 was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt at Visakhapatnam.

The eleventh edition of MILAN is being hosted by the Eastern Naval Command at Vishakhapatnam for the first time.

The participation from Friendly Foreign Countries includes 13 ships, 39 delegations and one Maritime Patrol Aircraft. This large congregation gives significance and potency to the word 'MILAN' which means meeting or confluence in Hindi.

A Special Day Cover and a movie on the MILAN exercise was released by the Chief Guest to mark the occasion.

Stated the Navy's official release "MILAN endeavours to promote "Camaraderie, Cohesion, Collaboration" between like-minded Navies. This is achieved by professional interaction and experience sharing at the harbour and enhancing interoperability, including multilateral operations at sea.”

The harbour phase of the exercise will culminate on 28 February, followed by the sea phase from 1 March to 4 March.