As Mumbai today remembers and pays tribute to the victims and martyrs of the horrible 26/11 terror attacks, the government has assured that coastal and maritime security has been substantially strengthened since the dreadful incident. A press release issued by the Ministry of Defence said that overall maritime security is much stronger today due to successful implementation of technical, organisational and procedural initiatives, by all maritime security agencies. On the 6th anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks, the Indian Navy, along with the Coast Guard and Indian Air Force are currently conducting the annual Defence of Gujarat Exercise for five days. Over 30 ships and submarines and aircraft of the Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, Coast Guard and State agencies have been deployed for this exercise off the Western Coast of India. During this exercise, defense of the offshore oil production areas will also be tested. This exercise will provide an opportunity to fine tune Standard Operating Procedures and test new operational concepts so as to be better prepared to prevent 26/11 like incident.

The press statement adds that coastal patrolling by Navy, Coast Guards and marine police has increased sharply since 2008 and as a result, potential threats are being detected and actions are taken to mitigate them in good time. It adds that inter-agency coordination, between nearly 15 national and state agencies has improved dramatically, only due to regular “exercises” conducted by the Navy in all the coastal states. Meanwhile,the Defence Ministry has also adopted modern technical measures for coastal surveillance, by way of a chain of 74 Automatic Identification System receivers, for gapless cover along the entire coast. Additionally, it has also undertaken the task of issuing ID cards to all fishermen with a single centralised database. According to the Indian Navy, fishing communities have become the ‘eyes and ears’ of India’s security architecture and hence their cooperation has become indispensable for maritime security. The process of registration of over 2 lakh fishing vessels operating off the Indian coast and equipping fishing boats with suitable equipment, to facilitate vessel identification and tracking is also on fast track.