New Delhi: The outbreak of coronavirus has made the Indian Navy on February 3 announce the postponement of the multi-nation mega naval exercise ‘MLAN 2020’ which was scheduled to be held off the coast of Visakhapatnam from March 18 to 28.
A biennial, multilateral naval exercise MILAN which started in 1995 was conducted at the Andaman and Nicobar Command until 2018. Over 40 countries were expected to participate in the exercise this year.
“It is for information that MILAN 2020 – a multilateral naval exercise scheduled to be conducted by the Indian Navy from March 18 to 28, at Visakhapatnam, has been postponed taking into consideration the safety of all participants and travel restrictions imposed by the spread of COVID-19,” an official statement said.
“The conduct of MILAN 2020 had generated a very enthusiastic response with Navies around the world having expressed their desire to participate; and in deference to this interest, the Indian Navy looks forward toward scheduling MILAN at a later convenient date,” it added.
“Indian Navy would like to whole heartedly thank the numerous navies from near and far for having accepted it’s invitation to participate in MILAN 2020, as also for the unstinted support provided in the run-up to this event,” the statement said.
