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'Coast Guard on alert to stop infiltration by Al-Qaeda men'
By Our Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI, JAN. 31. The Coast Guard is keeping a constant vigil from both air and surface to thwart terrorist infiltration efforts along the sensitive Gujarat coast where several landings of arms and deadly RDX explosives have taken place in the past.
In tandem with the Navy, it is undertaking patrols as well as daily aircraft sorties to deter any ``unusual activity'' from ``air and surface'', the Coast Guard Director-General, O.P. Bansal, said here today on the eve of the Coast Guard's silver jubilee.
The Coast Guard had been maintaining a tight vigil ever since huge consignments of explosives, used later in the Mumbai blasts, landed on the Gujarat coast in 1993. But, monitoring of the sea borders with Pakistan was stepped up after September 11.
Vice-Admiral Bansal pointed out that the operation by the Coast Guard and the Navy to thwart attempts by fleeing Al-Qaeda elements from entering India was not unique. Even the U.S. and other countries participating in `Operation Enduring Freedom' deployed assets worth $40 billion in the seas for the same purpose though with a much wider ambit.
Despite the recent green signal to set up more Coast Guard stations and acquire military assets like hovercraft and faster vessels, the Coast Guard remains ``thin on the ground''. It will require considerable infusion of funds to meet the emerging challenge of ``terrorism at sea'' such as hijacking of ships and blowing up of vessels carrying oil, he said.
He said that the high-level Group of Ministers on National Security had also underlined the importance of Coast Guard and called for recruitment of more men to meet shortage of personnel. It also recommended compatibility between the Navy and the Coast Guard in terms of weapons and training and requested for steps to induct modern vessels and aircraft in Coast Guard in a phased manner.
Another important charter for the Coast Guard was in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands where it is working in tandem with the other three services. In fact, the country's first experiment with a unified command was operational in this region in the past four months and the results so far were encouraging, Vice-Admiral Bansal said.
The Coast Guard Deputy Director-General, Prabhakaran Paleri, was also present.
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