Indian Navy postpones Milan 2020 amid coronavirus scare

New Delhi: The Indian Navy on Tuesday (March 3,2020) postponed one of its biggest maritime exercise Milan 2020 for indefinite time due to the global outbreak of coronavirus. Milan 2020 was scheduled to start on March 19, 2020 and would continue till March 28, 2020. 

31 countries including Singapore, South Korea and Gulf countries were likely to take part in the multi-nation naval exercise hosted by Indian Navy . 

Giving the information a senior Indian Navy officer said, "We have postponed the naval exercise that was scheduled from March 19. All the countries which were supposed to participate in the naval exercise would be conveyed this message with immediate effect.''He also said that the decision was taken after the outbreak of coronavirus outside China.

As per information, Indian Navy had already made all the preparations for the event which was scheduled to be conducted in Andhra Pradesh's Vizag. The maritime exercise was based on the theme of 'Synergy Across the Seas'. 

MILAN began in 1995 in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and grew large with every passing year. In 2018, 17 countries took part in the event. This was the 11th edition of MILAN and was being held under the aegis of Eastern Naval Command.

This is the second major event in the Indian subcontinent that has been postponed. Nepal on Monday announced that it will postpone Sagarmatha Sambaad that was to take place in April 2020. Leaders from across the South Asian region including PM Modi was invited for the event focused on discussing regional and global developments.

The death toll due to coronavirus is increasing continuously and the number of deaths has reached at 3,120 on Tuesday. India also reported three fresh cases of coronavirus in - Delhi, Telangana and Jaipur. The government of India has issued travel advisory and precautionary measure to prevent the spread of the deadly virus across the country. 

(With IANS input)