The minister said that the government has adopted a well-coordinated Coastal Security Policy. (File)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that a policy of maritime security has been adopted by the government led by Prime Minister Modi to make the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, Marine Police, Customs and fishermen a complete 'Sudarshan Chakra' of security ring for India.
Mr Shah's remarks came after he laid the foundation stone of the permanent campus of the National Academy of Coastal Policing (NACP) at Dwarka in Gujarat to be built at a cost of Rs 470 crore.
"In the open sea, security is provided by the ships and aircraft of the Indian Navy. The security is handled by the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard in the middle seas, and in the territorial waters by the water wing of the Border Security Force (BSF), whereas the patriotic fishermen in the village ensure the country's security by acting as a channel of information," said Mr Shah.
The Minister said that on all these dimensions, the Government of India has adopted a well-coordinated Coastal Security Policy and has worked to secure the country's coasts through an integrated approach.
He said that "our country has suffered many consequences due to negligence in coastal security."
"No patriotic citizen can forget the 2008 Mumbai attack in which 166 innocent lives were lost due to a slight mistake."
He said that after the policy of coastal security developed by the government led by Prime Minister Modi if the enemy tries to carry out such incidents, he will get a befitting reply from here.
Mr Shah said that this training is very important for this.
Union Home Minister said that this coastal security policy is based on several pillars.
"It includes coordination and communication in the matter of coastal security and intelligence, joint coastal patrols by setting protocols for patrolling at fixed time intervals, security of fishermen, giving more than 10 lakh Aadhaar cards with QR codes to fishermen, ensuring security arrangements at 1,537 fish leading points and security at all fishing harbours built for Blue Economy."
He said that by adding all these things an impregnable fort for coastal security has been established by the government led by PM Modi.
Mr Shah said that "during the tenure of the previous government, Porbandar Jail had to be closed after issuing a notification and Porbandar had become the centre of all kinds of thefts."
He said that ever since the government led by PM Modi came, the jail started again and the thieves fled from here.
He said that PM Modi secured Gujarat, be it the land border of Kutch, Sir Creek, Haraminala or the sea coast of Porbandar, or the sea coast of Dwarka-Okha-Jamnagar-Salaya.
Mr Shah said that today by keeping all the state governments together Narendra Modi, as the Prime Minister of the country, has established this training academy here to secure the country's sea coasts.
Several dignitaries including the Union Home Secretary and Director General of the Border Security Force were present on the occasion.
In his address, Mr Shah also said under the leadership of PM Modi, the work of the National Coastal Police Academy has been started today on more than 450 acres of land in order to further strengthen coastal security.
He said under the guidance of PM Modi, the security of the country and the country's borders has been strengthened and the citizens of the country feel safe.
Mr Shah said that in order to strengthen the border security, it is necessary that the living and working facilities of our border guards improve, they get state-of-the-art equipment and take care of the health of their family members.
He said that the central government under the leadership of PM Modi has left no stone unturned in these three areas and has tried to provide all kinds of facilities and state-of-the-art equipment to our security forces.
Union Home Minister said that recently the Indian Navy and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), with the help of India's intelligence agencies, have seized drugs worth Rs 12,000 crores off the coast of Kerala.
He said that while drugs worth Rs 680 crores were seized during the 10-year rule of the previous government, but Indian security agencies have seized drugs worth Rs 12,000 crore in a single consignment now, showcasing the preparedness of our agencies.
Mr Shah said if the borders of a country are not secure, there is no meaning of development. He said that a country can remain secure only through foolproof security of its borders.
Mr Shah said that India has a 15,000 km long land border and a 7,516 km long sea border. He said that out of the 7,516 km long maritime border, 5,422 km is the mainland border and over 2,000 km is the border of the islands. There are 1,382 islands, 3,337 coastal villages, 11 major ports, 241 non-major ports, and 135 establishments including those of space, defence, atomic energy, petroleum and shipping.
He said that earlier there was no special training system for all these security personnel, but after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, the need for a coherent response from jawans at every coastal police station, border security and Coast Guard was felt.
Mr Shah said that this is possible only when the training for coastal security is arranged in a planned manner.
He said that in 2018, PM Modi approved the National Coastal. "Today, with the imagination of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the training for the coastal security of the entire nation is being provided in Okha, the land of Lord Shri Krishna."
Mr Shah said that the total number of Coastal Police personnel in the entire country is around 12,000 and once this academy becomes fully operational, there will be arrangements for the training of 3,000 people in a year.
"In this way, within four years, 100 per cent training of all the personnel involved in the coastal security of India will be completed," he said.
He said that because of the vision and determination of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an important task of ensuring coastal security is being initiated today.
The Minister said that with about 56 crores cost, five different BSF company outposts and one observation post tower of 18th Corps were inaugurated today and our vigilant guards posted on the border will be able to live here with convenience and ensure the security of the country.
He further said that the people of the country sleep peacefully and consider the country safe because the BSF is deployed on the border.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)