Indian Navy will coordinate the second edition of the largest coastal defence exercise- Sea Vigil-21- which began from January 12, 2021.

The inaugural edition of the exercise was conducted in January 2019.

The two-day biennial pan-India coastal defence exercise will be undertaken along the entire 7,516-kilometre-long coastline.

The exercise will also include the Exclusive Economic Zone of the country and will involve all the 13 coastal states and Union Territories along with other maritime stakeholders.

It will also include fishing and coastal communities. The entire coastal security set up was reorganised after the 26/11 Terror attack at Mumbai which was launched via the sea route.

The scale and conceptual expanse of the exercise is unprecedented in terms of the geographical extent, the number of stakeholders involved.

The exercise is a build-up towards the major Theatre-level exercise TROPEX [Theatre-level Readiness Operational Exercise] which the 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 exercise 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 and State.

In a report, the All India Radio (AIR) correspondent reported that the Exercise SEA VIGIL-21 will provide a realistic assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the Indian Navy.

"It will thus help in further strengthening maritime and national security," the AIR report further added.

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