Eastern Naval Command will host Milan -2020, a multilateral exercise, from March 18 to 27, next year.
Disclosing this to the press here on Tuesday, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of ENC, Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain, said that over 40 countries have been approached and around 30 have already confirmed their participation.
Giving details, he said that the harbour phase will be held from March 18 to 23, the sea phase will be organised from March 24 to 26, and on March 27 the closing ceremony will be held.
“The closing ceremony will conclude with illumination of all ships along the coast of Visakhapatnam,” he said.
This will be the first big naval event in Visakhapatnam, with participation from multiple countries, post the IFR (International Fleet Review), which was held in February 2016.
According to him, such exercises were needed to improve the bilateral relationship between countries for safety and security in the region.
“ENC is presently undertaking four mission-based deployments such as North Bay of Bengal Deployment (NORDEP), Malacca Deployment (MALDEP), Central Indian Ocean Region Deployment (CENTDEP) and Sunda Deployment (SUNDEP). Ships from the command are also being deployed in Gulf of Aden for anti-piracy patrol. These deployment, have reassured our friendly foreign countries, and has sent a message of deterrence to the others,” he said.
According to him, a number of bilateral joint exercises with friendly nations such Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, the USA and Russia were held, to boost relationship.
Green initiatives
Talking of green initiatives of ENC, Vice-Admiral Jain, said that the command has completely banned the use of single use plastic and a total of 2.5 lakh saplings have been planted in the last five years, with 70,000 being planted in the last one year.
He said that a 2MW solar power plant will be commissioned at INS Kalinga this year and further solar projects are in the pipeline at three naval stations.
“We have also undertaken a number of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions in various countries such as Lebanon, Yemen, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and also within the country,” he said.
Rear Admiral Kiran Deshmukh, Admiral Superintendent, Naval Dockyard and Rear Admiral Suraj Berry, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet, and other senior officers were present.
