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| Monday, 31 January 2005 |
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India to strengthen maritime security from Upali Rupasinghe in New Delhi The Union Government of India has accorded top priority to the threat perception about terrorism and smuggling in the Indian Ocean and has cleared an IR 7420 million scheme to strengthen maritime security by enhancing patrolling and surveillance in the coastal areas. This would automatically provide a tight sea security ring outside the maritime boundaries of Sri Lanka. The main feature of the scheme was to have maritime police stations especially to deal with the maritime offences around the shores. Briefing newsmen about the proposed scheme, Union Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said another proposal was to strengthen the Indian Coast Guard by setting up additional coastal boards at a cost of IR 3420 million with a recurring expenditure of IR 260 million to provide a three-layered protection of coastal areas. While the Indian Navy guarded India's maritime interests and patrolled the sea-lanes in the high seas, the Indian Coast Guard looked after the zone between 10 to 30 nautical miles and the areas within five nautical miles of the shore were looked after the coastal police. The Indian Ocean had gained strategic importance within the last one decade in the wake of fast changing global dynamics. Moreover many important sea-lanes passed through this region besides more than 20 percent of oil of the world ferried through this region. |
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