INDIA. Mumbai: The two-day Coastal Defence exercise “Exercise Sea Vigil-22”, which began on Tuesday across the country, concluded with the enthusiastic participation of over 17 Government agencies from nine Coastal States and four Union Territories on Wednesday.
The conceptual and geographical expanse of Sea Vigil included contingencies ranging from Peace to Wartime across the entire coastline and the Exclusive Economic Zone of the country.
In addition, mitigation measures, on shore, in case of any breach in Coastal Security mechanism were also validated, an official release stated.
This edition of exercise Sea Vigil saw the largest participation from all maritime security agencies. More than 500 surface assets from the Indian Navy (IN), Coast Guard (CG), States Marine/ Coastal Police, Customs, Forest Department, Port Authorities, and private operators participated in the exercise.
During the exercise, the entire coastline was kept under surveillance by the IN and CG ships and aircraft. Helicopters were also pressed into service to reinforce Special Operations personnel operating onboard offshore platforms.
As ports form the nerve center of the seaborne trade, the security mechanism of ports was also validated during the exercise, and the crisis management plans of all ports were assessed for their effectiveness in tackling emergencies.
The State Police teams, Indian Navy Marine Commandos, and Commandos from National Security Guard were exercised to tackle acts of maritime terrorism.
In keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of giving impetus to NCC, enthusiastic participation by more than 800 NCC cadets was witnessed all across the Coastal states and UTs.
Participation of NCC cadets in an actual nationwide exercise resulted in enhanced awareness and involvement amongst the cadets.
The exercise also validated the technical surveillance infrastructure called the National Command, Control, Communication, and Intelligence (NC3I) Network.
The Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) at Gurugram (Haryana) and its various nodes across IN and CG stations were exercised for coordinating the surveillance and information dissemination mechanism.
The whole-hearted participation of all stakeholders met the envisaged objectives of the exercise.
The cooperation and coordination amongst various agencies involved is a reassuring sign of the progress made in the realm of Coastal Defence. The exercise would go a long way in enhancing Coastal Defence and National Security in the maritime domain, the statement read.
Also Read: Indian Navy and Coast Guard to Conduct a Two-day “Sea Vigil-2022” Exercise
