The Indian Navy has postponed their Naval exercise MILAN 2020 amidst Coronavirus fears.

This exercise was scheduled at Visakhapatnam from March 18-28.  The Indian Navy said in its official statement that the exercise has been postponed indefinitely.

"It is for information that MILAN 2020 – a multilateral naval exercise scheduled to be conducted by the Indian Navy from 18 to 28 Mar 20, at Visakhapatnam, has been postponed taking into consideration the safety of all participants and travel restrictions imposed by the spreasd of COVID-19" - Indian Navy.

MILAN 2020 is the Indian Navy's major multilateral exercise that includes the Navies of around 30 countries that were participating at Visakhapatnam, the Indian Navy's Eastern Command centre.  The exercise that is has been postponed now, was being hosted by Indian Navy and 41 countries including Australia, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia were invited.  MILAN 2020 was to be one of the biggest multilateral Naval exercises to be conducted by the Indian Navy.  No clarity on the next date has been received.

"The conduct of MILAN 2020 has generated a very enthusiastic response, with Navies around the world having expressed their interest to participate. However, in deference to this interest, the Indian Navy loks forward to scheduling MILAN at a later convenient date" - Indian Navy

MILAN, which is being held since 1995, was to be held for the first time at Visakhapatnam, under the Eastern Naval Command.  The Harbour phase was to be held from March 18 to 23 for discussion on maritime subjects of common concern and share solutions.  The proofessional competitions and conferences planned during this phase was to build the operational tempo for the Sea Phase planned from March 24-27.

"Each event is aimed at honing skills of our operators, maintainers, planners and executors across the full range of skill-sets, responsibilities and authority onboard a warship. Ships' crews can also look forward to discussions ashore with international counterparts during Table Top Exercises," - Admiral Karambir Singh - Chief of Naval Staff

Whilst posptponing the exercise, the Indian Navy the participating countries for their enthusiasm and unflinching support towards the run up to the event.  Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Karambir Singh, said that the exercise includes exercise at sea in multi-national groupings with seamanship drills, simulation of complex operational scenarios and tactical manoeuvres.