In recent years, there has been a heightened focus on the nation’s ability to defeat any enemy from the sea. The visuals of a burning Taj Palace hotel in South Mumbai, as Pakistan sponsored terrorists infiltrated the city by boat and attempted to lay siege to the commercial capital, are etched in the memory of all Indians. This incident fundamentally altered the nation’s outlook towards the challenges of securing India’s vast coastline regarding enemy approaching from the sea. Accordingly, the Indian Navy was assigned the responsibility for overall maritime security of the country and a whole of nation approach embraced towards strengthening seaward defences.
It is an acknowledged fact that no single organisation can effectively address the security challenges of India’s coastline and islands in isolation. Accordingly, the Coastal Defence and Coastal Security mechanism has been established, incorporating 6 ministries as well as 21 organisations and agencies (at both national and state levels). This mechanism is structured to ensure that any intelligence pertaining to suspicious activity is quickly reported to appropriate agencies, to facilitate timely and effective action.
In addition, there are multiple technologies which have been introduced for this purpose, including coastal radar stations, vessel identification systems, satellite-based tracking and monitoring systems, as well as radio transponder systems. These technologies feed a national maritime domain awareness framework, which maintains a continuous and real-time watch on the security situation in the maritime zones of India.
Ultimately, it the person on ground, who makes the difference. Recognising this, steady and sustained efforts have been made over the last fifteen years to enhance the understanding, skill and competence of personnel of all stakeholder agencies as well as improve inter-agency operational linkages. This is achieved through a regular schedule of training, interactions, briefings, exercises and workshops. These are structured at various levels – district, state and national, to ensure that each and every component of the mechanism is working optimally. The most significant and complex of these endeavours is the national level coastal defence exercise – which incorporates all stakeholders in addressing multiple realistic scenarios – titled Exercise Sea Vigil.
Commencing 20 November, the Indian Navy will be conducting Exercise Sea Vigil 2024, in all coastal states and island groups. The participating agencies will deal with threats to critical national infrastructure, including oil and port infrastructure, attempts by radicals to infiltrate the country by sea, as well as attacks on offshore facilities and coastal shipping. These widely diverse threats would be addressed by the entire coastal security mechanism, including the Navy, Coast Guard, State Marine Police, Customs, Shipping, Fisheries, etc.
There are two aspects which stand out in Sea Vigil 24. Firstly, the manner in which the fishing communities are being incorporated in the exercise. India’s fishing community have been the country’s eyes and ears over the horizon for many hundreds of years, often bringing vital advance notice of threats and dangers to the state. This aspect had waned in recent times, and as a result the coastline became more porous to sea borne threats. However, there has been continuous engagement of the fishing communities by the coastal security and coastal defence mechanism, which has significantly reversed the trend. In Sea Vigil 24, all fishing communities will form part of the national maritime ‘sensor’ grid, by providing inputs on any suspicious activity or boat which they observe. This aspect is considered to be a force multiplier for the national coastal defence structure.
Secondly, the youth of the country, particularly NCC Cadets and Bharat Scouts & Guides are also being involved in the exercise. This effort is aimed at increasing the understanding of coastal security among the nation’s dynamic youth. This would lay the foundation for better ‘whole-of-nation’ security measures for future, while also giving these young girls and boys invaluable life lessons through a unique experience.
As the Indian economy continues to grow and expand, the maritime component will also spread and diversify simultaneously. Accordingly, the challenges of coastal defence would also become more significant in times to come. In order to ensure that the nation’s prosperity continues to thrive, particularly in a volatile and uncertain neighbourhood, it is imperative that the mechanism to protect the country from sea-based threats is highly effective. Exercise Sea Vigil is the culmination of a series of training activities and smaller exercises, which aim to steadily and comprehensively strengthen India’s seaward defences. The complexity and scale of the exercise as well as the wide range of participants exemplifies the immense potential for cooperative and coordinated actions among diverse stakeholders towards a common goal.
