Maldives declines invitation for MILAN exercises

Maldives declines invitation for MILAN exercises

Context:

• Maldives has declined an invitation to join the MILAN series of multilateral exercises hosted by Indian in March at Andaman and Nicobar.
• The Indo- Pacific Maritime Dialogue recently organized by Indian Navy and the National Maritime Foundation jointly.

About MILAN:

• MILAN is a congregation of littoral navies conducted biennially by Indian Navy under the aegis of the Andaman and Nicobar Command.
•  It began in 1995 with participation of four countries.
•    MILAN is scheduled to be held from March 6-11.
• This year 23 countries have been invited of which 16 have confirmed so far.

Hambantota port:

• Chief of Defence Staff of Sri Lanka Navy Adm R.C. Wijegunaratna that their leaders had assured India that Sri Lanka would not enter into any military alliances for the security of Hambabtota. It will be done by Sri Lanka armed forces and Navy.
• In December last year, Chinese companies took over Hambantota port on long term lease, raising concerns in India.

Maldives clarification

•  Maldives Ambassador to India Ahmed Mohamed issued a statement that the country’s is unable to participate due to the state of emergency in Maldives.
• The Maldives and India enjoy a long history of excellent defence and military cooperation.