Coast Guard conducts 'Sagar Kavach' exercise along Maharashtra, Goa coast

The Indian Coast Guard in co-ordination with other agencies has undertaken an exercise along the coast of Goa and Maharashtra to protect the country's maritime interests and to test the agencies' collective response to security threats, officials said on Thursday.

The two-day 'Sagar Kavach' coastal security drill began on Wednesday, the Coast Guard said in a release.

The Coast Guard is conducting the exercise in co-ordination with the Indian Navy, Customs, Coastal Police, Central Industrial Security Force, Mormugao Port Authority and the Goa government's Fisheries and Captain of Ports departments, it said.

"The comprehensive coastal security exercise aims at strengthening and enhancing the coastal and maritime security of our nation. The multi-agency exercise takes place along the entire coastline, engaging a range of maritime agencies and stakeholders," the Coast Guard said.

"The exercise will simulate realistic scenarios to test and improve our collective response to maritime security threats, such as infiltration, smuggling, piracy and natural disasters," it said.

"This joint exercise demonstrates our commitment to safeguarding our coastline and protecting the nation's maritime interests," the release said.

During the exercise, various drills and scenarios are being conducted, including simulated terrorist threats, to revalidate SOPs and evolve synergy amongst agencies to achieve 100 per cent effective patrolling along the coastline to identify gaps and interdict infiltrators to prevent landing and attacks on various state vessels, it said.

The exercise also aims to undertake awareness and information sharing among various stakeholders, to form a unified coastal security communication plan, it added.