When warships from the US, Russia, Japan, Iran, the Philippines, South Africa, and extra start to converge off Visakhapatnam, India, for the Milan-26 naval workout routines, to be held from February 18-25, their choreography could look fairly acquainted: flags, formations, maneuvers, photo-ops and deliberations. However this thirteenth version of India’s Milan train is totally different. It culminates India’s sustained 32-year journey from a regional maritime participant to a pivotal grasp builder within the Indo-Pacific maritime safety structure.
Carried out underneath the aegis of the Indian Navy’s Japanese Naval Command, Milan-26 will happen alongside two different hallmark occasions – the Worldwide Fleet Overview (IFR) 2026 and the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) Ninth Conclave of Chiefs – collectively referred to as the Vizag (a typical identify for Visakhapatnam) trifecta. And if that wasn’t sufficient, throughout February 24-25, the New Delhi-based MP-IDSA will host the sixteenth South Asia Convention on the theme of “Sagar to Mahasagar: Strategic & Growth Partnerships,” bringing teachers, analysts, practitioners, and policymakers collectively.
This confluence of concepts, establishments, and naval operations alludes to how India at this time is contributing to the constructing of norms, practices and cooperative partnerships. The surge in exercise guarantees to make Milan-26 a worldwide node of naval diplomacy, operational engagement, and strategic signaling all of sudden.
From a Modest Starting to Multilateral Maritime Hub
Milan – the Hindi phrase for “confluence” – started in 1995 with solely 4 overseas navies: Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. This modest initiative of then Fortress Andaman & Nicobar (FORTAN) was aimed toward enhancing mutual understanding and belief by way of skilled interactions amongst regional maritime forces.
In additional than three many years, this biennial train has steadily expanded, mirroring the transition in India’s maritime pursuits. By 2014, participation had grown to 17 nations; by 2022 this naval train was drawing 42 overseas nations – involving 13 warships, 21 plane and a submarine plus observer delegations – marking a quantum leap within the complexity and scope of their workout routines and interactions. Thus far, Milan-26 has confirmed participation from 70 nations.
This speedy transformation reveals India’s increasing convening energy in addition to its shifting strategic doctrines: from a regional focus underneath the early Look East and Act East insurance policies to a extra inclusive maritime design aligned with the SAGAR (Safety and Development for All within the Area) and MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Development for Safety and Development Throughout Areas) visions as enunciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 and 2025, respectively.
Scale, Significance, and Strategic Indicators
The 2026 version of the Milan naval workout routines is projected to be the most important in its historical past. Invites are prolonged to over 135 nations, with 70 having already confirmed their attendance. At the least 23 overseas warships are slated to take part, together with vital contributions from main navies reminiscent of that of the US and Russia. Participation spans navies from the Indian Ocean Area, Southeast Asia, the Western Pacific, and past — showcasing Milan-26 as a real Indo-Pacific maritime platform, quite than a slim regional train.
The expanded scale is accompanied by a rising complexity in logistics and deliberations. Milan-26 options each harbor and excessive sea phases involving maritime area consciousness, air protection, anti-submarine warfare (ASW), search-and-rescue, and humanitarian operations, testing interoperability throughout diverse platforms and doctrines.
In the meantime, internet hosting Milan-26 alongside the IFR 2026 and the IONS Conclave magnifies India’s smooth and laborious energy. The strategic convergence of main naval powers at this Visakhapatnam “trifecta” positions India as a trusted interlocutor.
On the Worldwide Fleet Overview on February 18, the ceremonial meeting of worldwide navies will see President Droupadi Murmu evaluation the assembled fleet of over 70 ships together with India’s two plane carriers. Over 60 nations are confirmed to be collaborating, representing India’s standing as a maritime convenor.
On February 20, the IONS Ninth Conclave of Chiefs brings collectively naval management from 25 member states and 9 observers, facilitating strategic dialogue on maritime safety, piracy, humanitarian help and catastrophe reduction (HADR), and data sharing with lasting bonds.
Each occasions will probably be bridged by Milan-26, a well-recognized biannual naval workout routines of the final 31 years. Collectively, these occasions enable India to anchor operational belief and interoperability with strategic dialogues and maritime diplomacy.
India’s Maritime Choreography in Motion
Throughout Milan-26, the outcomes of India’s naval modernization, particularly its indigenization drive, will probably be showcased in platforms just like the INS Vikrant plane provider, the Visakhapatnam-class destroyer, Nilgiri-, Shivalik-, and Kolkata-class frigates and different fleet capabilities. These would be the hallmark of Milan-26, signaling India’s arrival as each a builder and conductor of recent maritime energy.
But in addition on present will probably be manifestations of India’s craving for camaraderie, command, and collective motion by way of widespread and numerous naval partnerships for the long term.
To grasp Milan-26’s deeper strategic resonance, one should situate it throughout the broader metamorphosis in India’s maritime profile and imaginative and prescient. Modi’s March 2015 speech in Mauritius launched the “SAGAR imaginative and prescient,” which posited the Indian Ocean as a shared house for collective safety and progress. SAGAR sought to prioritize cooperative frameworks, capability constructing, and humanitarian collaboration, making HADR a significant element of naval fleets.
Nevertheless, over the previous decade, India’s maritime posture has shifted past a purely regional lens to a worldwide maritime focus. That is what Modi outlined as his 2025 “MAHASAGAR imaginative and prescient,” which integrates financial diplomacy, technological connectivity, environmental sustainability, {and professional} interoperability. Importantly MAHASAGAR envisions international partnerships past the Indian Ocean, reflecting India’s ambition as a World South chief and internet safety supplier.
In flip, MAHASAGAR’s expanded focus is mirrored within the visitor listing for Milan-26. Attending navies embody not solely Indian Ocean Area states however these from Australia, Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam), the Center East (Iran), Africa (South Africa), and even Europe (France and Germany). The warships of main naval powers like the US and Russia at Milan-26 could turn into the main focus of media headlines, but India’s bonding with neighbors, center powers, and the World South will probably be equally important for its future.
Within the midst of fractured international order, India’s distinctive salience is mirrored in its means to carry opposing navies and leaderships collectively. The confirmed participation of United States and Russian naval belongings underscores India’s means to have interaction with opposing geopolitical poles by way of cooperative safety frameworks.
In the meantime, nations from numerous theaters of Southeast Asia, Africa, the Center East, and the Indo-Pacific have additionally responded positively, indicating India’s function as a bridge between regional and extra-regional maritime actors.
Internet hosting such numerous and large-scale maritime occasions is sure to strengthen India’s transition from a regional participant to an Indo-Pacific node of maritime cooperation. When paired with the mental framings provided by India’s SAGAR and MAHASAGAR visions, rising convergence at such maritime interactions replicate a holistic maritime diplomacy the place India’s doctrine, operations and multilateral cooperation intersect to maximise outcomes.
It’s on this context that Visakhapatnam’s naval “trifecta” must be understood. India is asserting a logic the place safety is collective and oceans underline interdependence – and the place India presents itself as convenor and maybe a shaper of the Twenty first-century maritime order.
