The Indian Navy is scheduled to coordinate the 2nd edition of the biennial pan-India coastal defence exercise Sea Vigil 2021 and build it up towards another biennial major theatre level exercise Theatre-level Readiness Operational Exercise (TROPEX).
Ex Sea Vigil-21 is being conducted on 12th &13th January. The inaugural edition was conducted in January 2019. The 2nd edition is being undertaken along the entire 7516 km coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone of India, involving all the 13 coastal States and Union Territories along with the maritime stakeholders, including the fishing and coastal communities.
“The scale and conceptual expanse of the exercise is unprecedented in terms of the geographical extent, the number of stakeholders involved, the number of units participating and in terms of the objectives to be met,” says the Indian navvy press release.
“Ex SEA VIGIL and Ex TROPEX together will cover the entire spectrum of maritime security challenges, including transition from peace to conflict. Assets of the Indian Navy, Coast Guard, Customs and other maritime agencies will participate in SEA VIGIL, the conduct of which is also being facilitated by the Ministries of Defence, Home Affairs, Shipping, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Fisheries, Customs, State Governments and other agencies of the Centre / State,” adds the release.
India conducts smaller scale exercises in coastal states regularly which includes combined exercises amongst adjoining states. Ex Sea Vigil is aimed to serve a larger purpose. It provides an opportunity, at the apex level, to assess the preparedness in the domain of maritime security and coastal defence.
The entire coastal security set up was reorganized after the 26/11 terror attack at Mumbai, which was launched via the sea route.
