New Delhi, 17 August, 2011

The Indian Navy and Coast Guard have been equipped to carry out enhanced surveillance while intelligence mechanism has been strengthened to secure the coastline against piracy, government told the Rajya Sabha Wednesday.

Defence Minister A K Antony told Parimal Nathwani in a written reply that installation of radars covering the country’s entire coastline and islands is also an essential part of this process.

He was answering a question whether the Somalian pirates have moved beyond their operating territories trespassing into Indian waters and have recently made three illegal intrusions near Gujarat coast and steps being taken to check them.

Antony said piracy off the Coast of Somalia has grown steadily over the years and has become a serious concern. In the recent past there have been some incidents of piracy attempts in the East Arabian Sea off the Lakshadweep and Minicoy Islands which were foiled by the Indian Navy.

In two separate incidents on June 19 and June 26 this year, 38 persons, out of which 32 are of Somalian origin, were apprehended by the police off the Gujarat Coast and interrogated by agencies concerned, he said.

The Minister said government has initiated several measures to several measures to strengthen coastal security, which includes improving surveillance mechanism and enhanced patrolling by following an integrated approach.

The intelligence mechanism has been streamlined through the creation of Joint Operation Centres and multi-agency coordination mechanism.

Both the Navy and Coast Guard have been appropriately equipped to carry out enhanced surveillance and secure the coastline, he said.