India’s biggest naval exercise, Milan put off amidst coronavirus scare

New Delhi, Mar 04: The Indian Navy has decided to defer its biggest maritime exercise, Milan in the wake of rising cases of coronavirus infections outside China. The development has been confirmed by officials on condition of anonymity.

It may be recalled that the multi nation naval drills were to begin at Visakhapatnam from March 19 to March 28. The new dates have not been finalised, but the exercise is being postponed due to the coronavirus scare, the official above told OneIndia.

The decision was taken after several navies expressed their inability to take part in the exercise, owing to new virus cases being detected in different parts of the world. 40 countries were scheduled to take part in the drill. China was however not invited for the exercise, the officer also added. The countries which were invited included, rance, Mozambique, Sudan, Israel, Qatar, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, Somalia, Kenya, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Myanmar, New Zealand, the US, Tanzania, Comoros, Maldives, Brunei, Philippines, Japan, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Mauritius, Cambodia, Singapore, South Korea, South Africa, Kuwait, Iran, Madagascar, Bangladesh, Russia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Bahrain, UAE and Seychelles.

Milan was being organised in the wake of increased Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean Region.