Two Sri Lanka Navy vessels to Visakhapatnam for MILAN & IFR

Two Sri Lanka navy ships set sail from the Colombo port for Visakhapatnam to join the multilateral naval exercise MILAN and International Fleet Review hosted by the Indian Navy, it was announced Thursday. Sri Lanka Navy Ship (SLNS) Sagara and Nandimitra set sail on Wednesday, the Navy said here. The 13th edition of MILAN, Indian Navy's flagship Multilateral Naval Exercise, will be conducted under the aegis of the Eastern Naval Command from February 18 to 25 at Visakhapatnam and in the waters of the Bay of Bengal. The International Fleet Review (IFR) is hosted by the Indian Navy. ''Taking part in this nature of naval exercises would open new avenues to the Sri Lanka Navy to build inter-operability with regional partners, exchange best practices and procedures in maritime operations and identify new challenges in maritime domain,'' the Navy said. Under the theme 'United through Oceans' for IFR and 'Camaraderie, Cooperation, Collaboration' for MILAN, this edition will feature professional exchanges, operational drills, and cultural celebrations, along with maritime assets of regional and extra-regional partners.