15-01-2021 | 12:18 PM
Sea Vigil-21
Context
Recently, the second edition of the biennial pan-India coastal defence exercise Sea Vigil-21 has been conducted. The exercise aims to assess India’s preparedness in the domain of coastal defence and maritime security. The inaugural edition of the exercise was conducted in January 2019.
Key Highlights
The 2021 exercise is being undertaken along the 7516 km coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone of India.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) defines an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as generally extending 200 nautical miles from shore, within which the coastal state has the right to explore and exploit, and the responsibility to conserve and manage, both living and non-living resources.
It involves all the 13 coastal States and Union Territories along with other maritime stakeholders, including the fishing and coastal communities.
13 Coastal States and UT’s are: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Daman & Diu, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands (Bay of Bengal) and Lakshadweep Islands (Arabian Sea).
Assets of the Indian Navy, Coast Guard, Customs and other maritime agencies are also participating in the Exercise.
The Indian Air Force, National Security Guard, the Border Security Force, oil handling agencies and airports also participate in the exercise.
Exercise 2021 version will provide a realistic assessment of India’s strengths and weaknesses and thus will help in further strengthening maritime and national security.
This exercise aims to check the efficacy of the measures initiated to plug gaps in coastal security following the Mumbai terror attack in 2008.
Several other initiatives were set forth, including the National Committee for Coastal and Maritime Security (NCSMCS), creation of Joint Operations Centres (JOC) at Mumbai, Cochin, Visakhapatnam and Port Blair, raising of Sagar Prahari Bal (SPB), installation of the Harbour Defence Surveillance System, setting-up of National Command Control Communication and Intelligence (NC3I) Network.
The Sea Vigil is a build-up towards the major theatre level exercise TROPEX (Theatre-level Readiness Operational Exercise) which the Indian Navy conducts every two years. Both Sea Vigil and TROPEX will together cover the entire spectrum of maritime security challenges.
