The importance of coastal security was acknowledged long ago. In the evolving world, types of threats have diversified. With seaborne threats steadily rising, and only the Navy and Coast Guard seriously engaged in coastal security, the government approach towards coastal security was not fully established. The 26 November 2008 incident shook not only Mumbai but the world, when Pakistan-backed terrorists carried out deadly attacks in the financial capital of the country, utilising the sea routes to enter Mumbai.
Soon the Indian Navy was tasked as the lead agency towards revamping the coastal security apparatus. The government, having realised the shortcomings, set in motion pan-India reviews, multi-agency-inter-ministerial integration and infrastructure build-up. With a coastline of over 7,500 km, India has much to defend.
The Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard regularly undertake state-level exercises with all the government agencies to test the effectiveness of the set-up. These range from district-level exercises to the whole state; a few even with adjoining states. There have been both, alerted and unalerted simulated intrusions to test the ability of the security apparatus to not merely detect but to respond comprehensively. Exercise Sea Vigil has been India’s major coastal defence exercise, first launched in 2019 to assess and strengthen maritime security across the country’s extensive coastline. Conducted by the Indian Navy in coordination with the Indian Coast Guard, the exercise has extended across India’s entire coastline across all states and Union Territories at the same time, including the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The primary aim of Exercise Sea Vigil is to simulate various coastal defence challenges, incorporating a wide range of national resources to ensure comprehensive defence readiness. The fourth edition of Exercise Sea Vigil will be conducted in the last week of November across seven states and four Union Territories. Typically, one would imagine the ministry of defence, marine and state police to be involved. But what makes this exercise unique is the fact that it covers a multitude of government agencies.
Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti, the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (DCNS), who is responsible for the operational aspects of the Indian Navy chaired the main planning conference with all stakeholders across the states and Union Territories in the last week of October and highlighted how Sea Vigil-24 would serve as a cornerstone exercise to strengthen India’s Maritime Security framework and coastal defence, ensuring robust surveillance and seamless response to any emergent threat. This Year’s edition will also address the gaps and shortfalls identified in the third edition held in 2022.