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Sentinels Of Coastline: SMALL MARINE FORCE FOR BIG JOB, by B.K. Mathur, 26 March 2007 Print E-mail
Defence Notes

New Delhi, 26 March 2007

Sentinels Of Coastline

SMALL MARINE FORCE FOR BIG JOB

By B.K. Mathur

Increasing threat from the sea is now receiving New Delhi’s attention. It is well reflected in Defence Minister A.K. Antony’s recent statements in Parliament and outside. He has talked about the urgent need to strengthen India’s Coast Guard to tackle the latest recent infiltration efforts by the militants. Those trying to sneak in to India from the sea route are not only the militants from Pakistan but also Sri Lanka’s LTTE cadres. A number of them have reportedly been found in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Antony has also talked in Port Blair the other day about the need to bolster Andaman and Nicobar security. 

He has indicated threats posed to the region by China and the terrorists.China’s fast-growing footprints in the Indian Ocean about which Antony has talked is known for long. So also the need to strengthen military infrastructure and force levels of unified theatre command in the region. Equally urgent for national defence is the need to give the much required boost to the country’s young armed force, the Coast Guard which has not received the attention it required all these 29 years it has been in existence, considering its duties to safeguard India’s long coastline. Happily, attention has now turned to the sentinels of the coastline especially, because of the tightened security of our land borders and the infiltration attempts from the sea.

 About the Unified Command which Antony indicated at Port Blair the other day another time. First the need to strengthen the Coast Guard. Believe it, this marine force is one organization which could earn more than what it spends, given the fact that the constabulary in a way was thought of in the 1970s to protect massive sea wealth and living and non-living resources in about 28.5 million sq. km. of Exclusive Economic Zone, extending upto 200 miles into the sea. India has been known for long for smuggling of gold and silver and its sea fish potential of about four million tonnes per year. If all this massive wealth is protected, the entire force could not only be financed but much of the collections could be utilized in national development.

The task of the force is all the more enormous in view of the prevailing security environment, especially the latest terror threat from the sea. In fact, the geo-strategic situation of India, the international maritime legislation, the U.N. law of the Sea and the Law of the Sea Convention have made India’s position vulnerable politically, because we have island territories far away from the mainland. India’s major interest has thus not been covered by international laws, giving rise to a complexity of legal rights and duties, the magnitude of which can be understood by the fact that the country has the largest Economic Zone and a Continental Shelf upto 350 miles from the coast in the Bay of Bengal and 300 miles in the Arabian Sea. The area has to be protected by the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard also has the challenging responsibility of facing along with the Navy the ever-growing threats to the peace and security of the country. At present the potential threat is from Pakistan which has been strengthening its Naval force since 1971. Moreover, Islamabad is gradually changing its strategy. Earlier, its sea force was dependent on its air force for any Naval operation. But now it is a real blue-water Navy, giving rise to the urgency for the Indian defence planners to draw up the maritime boundaries with Pakistan and other neighbouring countries. Several times in the past Pakistan boats have been captured with explosives being smuggled for militancy. Lately, the Pak-trained militants too have started entering India.

This requires a considerable increase in the Coast Guard’s firepower and equipment to become a fighting force in the sea, rather than the constabulary. All these years since it was constituted in 1978, the force has not received its due. In early 1980s a five-year Coast Guard Development Plan (CGDP) was worked out by the Government for 1985-1990. But it could not be formally approved due to the acute crunch the country faced. The acquisition proposals were on a piece-meal basis and the amount sanctioned for the purpose was restricted to just Rs.518.88 crore. Then again in the CGDP for 1990-95 was recast to 1992-97 in line with the national five-year plan owing to severe resource crunch, leading to a two-year plan holiday.

The same treatment to the Coast Guard has continued since then. For the 1992-97 plan, a projection was made for Rs.2286.92 crore, but ultimately it was approved for only Rs.1223 crore. This reduction has led to drastic cuts in the initially projected force level required for the massive responsibilities of the force. The CGDP for 1997-2002 was initially projected for Rs.3277 crore. But it was finally approved for Rs.1850 crore. The result? Much required machinery, fighter boats, observation posts, hovercraft, helicopters etc could not be acquired and the constabulary continued to operate with obsolete machines and manpower under the control and command of the Indian Navy.  The force by itself has never been equal to its task all these 29 years of its existence.

 The Coast Guard continues to be a small force. The last figure that I have is that it is a force of just 5440 uniformed personnel---633 Officers, 4560 enrolled personnel including 82 Officers and 145 personnel from the Navy and other Defence Services on deputation. The situation is so despite the fact that the force is taking on the ever-increasing responsibilities in protecting the national interests in the maritime zone. At present, about 70 per cent of these personnel are serving at sea or manning the front line Squadrons to operate its 65 ships and 44 aircraft. Indeed, this is an excellent tooth to tail ratio by any standard. But this does not make the maritime force fully equipped to meet its challenging task. It has to be fighting force and sort of a “second line” of defence for the Navy at the time of its operation on sea.

More than 200-year-old Coast Guard forces in Britain and America, both great Naval powers in the world, are one hundred per cent fighting forces in those two countries. They can be deployed as fully combatant Navies in times of need. Doubtlessly, India cannot afford to have a parallel Navy. In fact, a lot more is required to strengthen the Indian Navy itself. But the requirements of the Coast Guard too need to be commensurate with its task. The force is also important for the Navy, which could not be expected to be fully effective without a policing force.

The strengthening of the Coast Guard with modern sophisticated machinery and fully-trained manpower of the force’s own automatically strengthens the Navy. When the fighting Navy prepares itself for a sea battle, the sentinels of the maritime zone keep an effective vigil on the vast coastline India has. They are a force which ensures India’s interests on sea adequately protected. The young Coast Guard of India has a long way to go in men, equipment and experience before it can rely on its own inherent strength. It requires as much attention as any other military or para-military organization. Remember, the country’s safety lies on the sea also, especially in the present day context when the sea terror has raised its ugly head. ---INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

 

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