Indian Navy Leads Coastal Security Exercise Neptune-II off Lakshadweep Islands

The Coastal Security Exercise off Lakshadweep islands named Neptune-II was successfully held from 14th September to 16th September 10. The Exercise, second one in the series for the Islands, and scheduled by the Commander in Chief Coastal Defence also saw the participation of elements from the Indian Army and Indian Air Force this time in addition to all other agencies involved in Coastal Security.

In a special briefing conducted for the Media on the conduct of the exercise, by Commodore MR Ajaya Kumar, Naval Officer in Charge and DIG BK Loshali, Commander Coastguard District headquarters No 4; they expressed satisfaction at having achieved the objectives of the exercise. The officers praised the high level of security consciousness in the Lakshadweep Islands and emphasized the prominent role played by the Lakshadweep administration and the Police there in the success of the exercise.

The conduct of the Exercise Neptune –II, involved the security agencies being divided into playing the role of anti national elements and coastal defence force. All the attacking elements were successfully neutralized by the Coastal defence force during the exercise, signifying considerable progress in the crystallization of the coastal defence architecture. The village Dweep Panchayats and Island vigilance Committees played a robust role in successfully thwarting the attacking force. The commitment levels and involvement of all the participating agencies came for fulsome praise from the officials who said that the guard was not let down even for a moment in the 49 hour long exercise.

A slew of measures are on the anvil as a result of valuable lessons gleaned during the conduct of the exercise. Prominent among them are:- increasing surveillance of the uninhabited islands, positioning of air assets at Lakshadweep Islands, strict implementation of access control at the embarkation and disembarkation points, establishment of watchtowers and radar chains along the islands, acquisition and training on more boats for the Police and measures to further strengthen civil aviation security. Commodore Ajay Saxena, Chief Staff Officer (Operations) Headquarters Southern Naval Command and a host of officers from the participating agencies attended the briefing.
(India Defense)