Maldives' unprecedented snub to India's invite for naval exercise

Meanwhile, Maldives navy cadets join training with Indian navy squadron

In a rebuff that the Indian Navy is downplaying, the Maldives Islands have turned down an invitation to a gathering of Indian Ocean navies that the navy organises every other year in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.  

The event, called MILAN 2018, will be held in Port Blair from March 6-13. It will be attended by at least 16 navy delegations from Indo-Pacific littoral countries, including Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand Myanmar and Mauritius.

Maldives, one of the navy’s close maritime partners, has been a regular participant at MILAN, a week-long festival of discussions, band and cultural displays, sports events and