Govt has Taken Number of Measures to Strengthen Coastal, Offshore and Maritime Security: Union Minister Ajay Bhatt

The Government has taken a number of measures to strengthen coastal, Offshore and maritime security. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, the Minister of State for Defence, Ajay Bhatt said that the Navy, Coast Guard and State Marine Police along with other agencies such as Customs and Port Trusts patrol the Maritime Zone of India using surface and air assets to detect and check infiltration.

He added that electronic surveillance of maritime zone is undertaken using radar, Automatic identification system and open sources to guard the coastal regions. He told that the Government had taken stock of the prevailing conditions in the Coastal regions of South India and both eastern and western sides with respect to the Chinese threat.

The Minister said that India had a well articulated policy of Neighbourhood first with a focus on creating mutually beneficial, people oriented regional frameworks for stability and prosperity. Mr.Bhatt said that India’s relations with its neighbors stand on their own and are independent of the relations of those countries with third countries. He said that exercises with various security agencies were conducted regularly to assess the effectiveness of existing mechanisms. The Minister told that fishing communities living in coastal areas were engaged in interaction through awareness program by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard. In addition, units of Army, Air Defence and Air Force are placed for Air defence at Kalpakkam and Kudankulam.

Source: AIR