As the Indian Navy looks to mark Navy Day on December 4, it is also gearing up to host its largest multilateral exercise early next year. The next edition of Exercise MILAN is scheduled to be held in February 2024, and is expected to see the participation of over 50 countries, defence sources said while noting that this reflects the significant expansion of the Navy’s engagements as well as capacity to assist countries in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) as the first responder and Preferred Security Partner.
“Presence and operational reach by the Indian Navy through Mission Based Deployments and other operational engagements has steadily enhanced. There are 17 multilateral and 20 bilateral exercises that the Navy conducts annually which exemplifies India’s commitment to maintaining strong defence ties,” a defence source said. “These exercises are crucial for honing operational capabilities, sharing best practices, building mutual trust, fostering interoperability, strengthening diplomatic ties, and enhancing maritime security. They not only demonstrate India’s naval prowess but also contribute to the shared goal of ensuring a secure and stable maritime environment.”
Exercise Milan is a biennial multilateral naval exercise which began in 1995, and has since significantly expanded in scope and scale to become the largest exercise held by India. The mid-planning conference of Milan-24 was held in October this year. The last edition of Milan, which is held off Visakhapatnam, saw participation from over 40 countries.
In addition, since July 2022, Indian Navy has joined the Bahrain-based Combined Maritime Force (CMF), a US-led multi-national naval partnership that aims to promote security, stability, and prosperity across international waters in IOR. “Indian Naval ships and aircraft are being deployed for CMF led operations on regular basis,” sources noted and earlier this month India announced its decision to become a full member of the grouping.
This year, the Navy Day is scheduled to be held on December 4 at Sindhudurg Fort on the western seaboard, built in 1660 by Chhatrapati Shivaji. It is located 550 km from Mumbai and about 135 km from naval station at Goa. The operational demonstration will witness participation of 20 warships along with 40 aircraft comprising MiG 29K and LCA Navy along with combat beach reconnaissance and assault demo by the Marine Commandos. This is the first time that the Navy will be organising a mega event which is not taking place at any major naval station. December 4 is observed as Navy Day to commemorate the Navy’s daring attack on Karachi harbour during the 1971 War under ‘Operation Trident’.
India has also significantly expanded assistance in capacity building to countries in the region. This includes giving platforms, regular training as well as routinely deploying Mobile Training Teams (MTT) overseas to facilitate capacity development. “Recently, MTT from Indian Naval Work up teams undertook Operational Sea Checks of ships of two friendly countries - Sri Lanka and South Africa at Trincomalee and Cape Town respectively where they worked alongside the ship’s crew to achieve very high standards of operational readiness as well as safety compliance,” a defence source said.
Similarly, INS Nireekshak conducted mix gas diving training for Sri Lankan Navy personnel in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, both in 2022 and 2023. To date, Indian Navy has trained over 15,000 personnel from over 40 countries from the IOR, the first source stated.
Indian built Off-shore Patrol Vessels (OPV) and Fast Attack Craft (FAC) are in service in Mauritius, Seychelles and Sri Lanka, facilitated through defence Lines of Credit. In October 2020, India gifted a kilo-class Submarine INS Sindhuvir which was extensively refitted and upgraded prior handing over, to Myanmar.
India also gifted Maldives an FAC and a landing craft in May this year, replacing the FAC gifted earlier, a second source noted. In July this year, India gifted an operational corvette, INS Kirpan to Vietnam. “Gifting of these assets are aimed at enhancing the capacity of these countries to contribute to regional security,” one of the sources said adding other capacity building measures include hydrological survey undertaken by Indian Navy Survey Ships in Tanzania, Maldives, and Mauritius, as also the regular conduct of joint Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) surveillance in response to requests from Indian Ocean littoral states such as Maldives, Seychelles, and Mauritius.
