India to host naval drill Milan 2020 in March; to see participation of several countries

The Indian Navy will host military drill 'Milan 2020' in March which will witness the participation of several countries, Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik said on Monday. In a written response to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Naik said 41 nations from South Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe that share defence cooperation with India have been invited for the drill.

The countries to whom invitations have been sent are Indonesia, France, Mozambique, Sudan, Israel, Qatar, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, Somalia, Kenya, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Myanmar, New Zealand, USA, Tanzania, Comoros, Maldives, Brunei, Philippines, Japan, UK, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Mauritius, Cambodia, Singapore, South Korea, South Africa, Kuwait, Iran, Madagascar, Bangladesh, Russia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Bahrain, UAE and Seychelles "The government pursues cooperation initiatives with friendly foreign countries, including in Indian Ocean Region, through structured interactions like Staff Talks, Empowered Steering Group. The areas of cooperation include capacity building, marine domain awareness, training, hydrography, technical assistance, operational exercise," Naik said.

In response to another question, Naik said the Army has 6,868 women officers and the Air Force and the Navy have 2,302 and 1,077 respectively.

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