- The Indian Navy is hosting multi-national ‘MILAN 2018’ exercises at Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar islands from March 6 to March 13, 2018.
- The underlying theme of MILAN 2018 is ‘In Pursuit of Maritime Good Order – Need for Comprehensive Information Sharing Apparatus’.
- Maldive, which participated in earlier occasions, has this time declined to participate. It is being speculated that India’s position on internal disturbances in Maldive might have influenced the decision.
About MILAN exercise
- Milan began in 1995 with the participation of just four other countries – Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, since then it has grown in size and its importance has significantly increased.
- It was intended to promote greater cooperation on areas such as maritime security and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) for the wider region.
