The harbour phase of the exercise is from February 19 to 23. The sea phase featuring various complex drills and manoeuvres will be from February 24 to 27.

India on Monday kick-started a nine-day mega naval exercise in Visakhapatnam with participation of around 50 navies

Navies from the US, Japan, Australia, France, Bangladesh, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia, among others, are participating in the 12th edition of the 'Milan'

The exercise commenced with the arrival of 15 warships and one maritime patrol aircraft from friendly foreign countries.

From the Indian Navy, nearly 20 ships including aircraft carriers Vikrant and Vikramaditya and nearly 50 aircraft including MiG 29K

Milan is a biennial multinational naval exercise which started in 1995 with the participation of Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand in consonance with India's 'Look East' policy.

The formal opening ceremony took place on February 21. The harbour phase includes the opening ceremony, international city parade, international maritime seminar, Milan Tech Expo and table top exercise, among others.

The previous edition of the exercise took place in 2022 in Visakhapatnam.