Lack of cohesion led to 26/11: Navy chief

NEW DELHI - Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma Thursday said India has come a long way to secure its maritime boundaries, post the 2008 Mumbai terror attack which was a result of lack of cohesion between intelligence and security agencies other than the navy and the Coast Guard.

One of the reasons why the 26/11 (the Nov 26, 2008, terror strike) happened was the lack of cohesion between various maritime stakeholders who have something to do as far as maritime security, not necessarily between the navy and the Coast Guard, Verma told reporters at the annual news conference ahead of the Navy Day to be celebrated Dec 4.

The lack of cohesion, the navy chief said, was in terms of generation of information on which the navy and Coast Guard can act to maintain the patrolling of India’s over 7,500-km coastline.

At least 10 Pakistani terrorists of the Lashkar-e-Taiba sneaked into Mumbai by sea in 2008, killing 166 people in bomb and gun attacks at various crowded places in India’s financial capital.

But the navy chief maintained that the maritime boundaries have now been secured by better coordination and intelligence sharing.

You have to believe me we have come a very long way. I mean, today it is not just the navy and Coast Guard but many ministries are involved, he said, adding the coastal security was a key area in an overall maritime security architecture of India.

He said all maritime stakeholders from state and central agencies have been integrated into the coastal security matrix.

As a result, there is today far better coordination, synergy and understanding among all agencies, he said.

The admiral added that the Indian Navy has established four joint operation centres at Mumbai, Kochi, Visakhapatnam and Port Blair which have been networked with other agencies like state marine police, customs, Intelligence Bureau and ports.