NEW DELHI: India's biggest maritime exercise which included officials and warships from the navies of the Quad countries and Russia culminated on Saturday. The exercise took place amid deteriorating US-Russia relations following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Indian Navy in a statement said, "The sea phase of the 11th edition of MILAN, which witnessed participation of 26 ships, one submarine and 21 aircraft, culminated on March 4."
A source said, “A delegation from Russia, the Navy Chief of Australia, Chief of Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force and Chief of the United States Indo-Pacific Command attended the exercise.”
"A series of complex and advanced exercises were undertaken in all three dimensions of Naval operations to enhance compatibility, interoperability, mutual understanding and maritime cooperation amongst the partner Navies," added the Indian Navy.
The first two days of exercises at sea included complex Anti Air Warfare drills with US P8A aircraft shepherding a strike of Indian fighter aircraft on a formation of warships of the participating navies, the Navy said.
Additionally, weapon firings against low-flying air targets were conducted, which reflected the proficiency of the crews and high levels of interoperability.
The exercise also "witnessed an increase in the complexity of exercises including underway replenishment, advanced anti-submarine exercises with participation by aircraft, surface target firings and simulation of complex operational scenarios."
The closing ceremony of MILAN 22 was held in a unique format with Commanding Officers of participating ships arriving by helicopters and boats on board INS Jalashwa at anchorage. Six foreign ships attended the closing ceremony in virtual mode.
The MILAN Series of Multilateral Naval Exercise made a modest beginning in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 1995 with the participation of four littoral navies of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Thailand.
This biennial congregation of friendly navies, over the last two-and-a-half decades, has progressively grown in magnitude with the previous edition in 2018 being attended by 17 countries.
During this period, the scope of the exercise too has seen a progressive transformation.