Antony asks Navy, CG to quickly plug gaps in coastal security

Defence Minister A K Antony, on Thursday, carried out an in-depth review of coastal security mechanism put in place post-26/11 and ordered Navy and Coast Guard to quickly integrate all maritime agencies into the security grid to plug "gaps" in the apparatus.

At a 90-minute meeting in South Block in New Delhi, Antony also did a quick check on the progress made in acquiring new ships, patrol vessels and interceptor boats for the Navy and Coast Guard for strengthening surveillance along the 7,500-km long coastline.

Addressing top security brass, the Defence Minister said that coastal security should "be the prime concern and all (agencies) follow up the measures taken in a time-bound manner to plug the gaps in the apparatus". He also said Mumbai-type attacks "will not be tolerated at any cost" and asked all maritime agencies to hasten the process of integration with the coastal security grid and coordination in intelligence gathering and sharing during operations.

The meeting was attended among others by National Security Adviser M K Narayanan, Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar, Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma, Coast Guard Director General Vice Admiral Anil Chopra, apart from Secretaries for Shipping, Fisheries, and Animal Husbandry, and officials from Home Ministry and Border Management departments.