India's most ambitious maritime gathering since independence officially commenced at Visakhapatnam on February 15, 2026, with the simultaneous launch of three major naval events: the International Fleet Review (IFR) 2026, Exercise MILAN 2026, and the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) Conclave of Chiefs. This unprecedented naval trifecta brought together 74 nations and 85 warships, making it the largest maritime gathering in India's history.\n\nThe centrepiece of IFR 2026 was India's first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant (commissioned September 2022), which was reviewed by President Droupadi Murmu. INS Vikrant's presence at the fleet review underscored India's growing naval self-reliance under Aatmanirbhar Bharat.\n\nExercise MILAN, a biennial multilateral naval exercise hosted by India since 1995, has grown substantially over the decades. The 2026 edition featured exercises in maritime security, anti-piracy operations, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), and undersea warfare, aimed at building interoperability among the navies of the Indo-Pacific region.\n\nThe IONS Conclave of Chiefs, held alongside IFR and MILAN, brought together naval chiefs from Indian Ocean littoral states to discuss collective maritime security challenges including freedom of navigation, countering illegal fishing, and combating transnational maritime threats.\n\nFor RAS aspirants, this is relevant to defence and security, India's maritime doctrine, India's neighbourhood-first and SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) policy, and India's soft power projection through multilateral naval diplomacy.