`Sea Vigil-21': Indian navy to conduct largest defence exercise along 7516 km coastline

The inaugural edition was conducted in January 2019.

The exercise will be undertaken along the 7516 km coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone of India. It will involve all the 13 coastal states and Union Territories along with other maritime stakeholders, including the fishing and coastal communities.

The exercise is being coordinated by the Indian Navy. The entire coastal security set up was reorganized after the 26/11 Terror attack at Mumbai.

The scale and conceptual expanse of the exercise is unprecedented in terms of the geographical extent, the number of stakeholders involved, and the number of units participating and in terms of the objectives to be met.

The exercise is a build-up towards the major Theatre level exercise `TROPEX' [Theatre-level Readiness Operational Exercise] which Indian Navy conducts every two years.

`SEA VIGIL' and `TROPEX' together will cover the entire spectrum of maritime security challenges, including the transition from peace to conflict. Assets of the Indian Navy, Coast Guard, Customs, and other maritime agencies will participate in SEA VIGIL, the conduct of which is also being facilitated by the Ministries of Defence, Home Affairs, Shipping, Petroleum, and Natural Gas, Fisheries, Customs, State Governments, and other agencies of Centre/ State.

While smaller-scale exercises are conducted in coastal states regularly, including combined exercises amongst adjoining states, the conduct of a security exercise at the national-level is aimed to serve a larger purpose. It provides an opportunity, at the apex level, to assess our preparedness in the domain of maritime security and coastal defence. Exercise 'SEA VIGIL 21' will provide a realistic assessment of our strengths and weaknesses and thus will help in further strengthening maritime and national security