Australia Navy chief, US Pacific fleet Cdr in India

A four-day sea exercise will start in the Bay of Bengal tomorrow that will include exercises at the sea surface, under sea and in air.

This is part of the sea phase of the exercise ‘Milan’ being conducted at Vishakhapatnam.

Quadrilateral nations — the US, India, Australia and Japan — are among countries that will field their warship or air assets. Other countries are Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, France, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Seychelles.

This edition of ‘Milan’ would be larger in “scope and complexity” with focus on exercises at sea, including use of air power and weapon firing.

Around 40 countries had participated in the first phase (February 25 to 28) of the exercise. The theme of the ‘Milan’ exercise this year is “Camaraderie–Cohesion–Collaboration” which aims to project India as a responsible maritime power to the world at large.