Thirteen coastal states and union territories are all set to participate in the biennial pan-India activity

The Indian Navy will begin the second edition of the country’s largest coastal defence exercise, Sea Vigil 21, from Tuesday.

The two-day exercise will be undertaken along the entire 7,516-kilometre-long coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of India. It would involve 13 Indian states and union territories, the Ministry of Defence said in an official statement.

The scale and conceptual expanse of the exercise is unprecedented in terms of geographical extent, number of stakeholders and participating units involved and the objectives to be met. The country’s fishing and coastal communities will also be involved in the exercise.

Sea Vigil-21 is the second edition of the pan-India exercise, the first having been held in January last year. The exercise was an extension of the overhauling of coastal security setup following the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai.

Assets of the Indian Navy, Coast Guard, Customs, and other maritime agencies will participate in Sea Vigil 21 exercise. This exercise is a build up towards Indian Navy’s major Theatre-level biennial exercise TROPEX (Theatre-level Readiness Operational Exercise).

Sea Vigil and TROPEX together cover the entire spectrum of maritime security challenges, including transition from peace to conflict.

Indian Navy conducts many small-scale exercises in coastal states regularly including combined exercises amongst adjoining states. The national-level exercise is aimed to serve a larger purpose of assessing preparedness of maritime security and coastal defence.