Navy worried about maritime security losing priority

The Indian Navy is worried the issue of maritime security may be losing the priority and urgency given it after the 26/11 attacks. The navy has been waiting for movement on the formation of a maritime security set-up and had created the post of a designated adviser of the rank of Vice Admiral to advise on maritime security and intelligence issues.

“We even selected the officer and and marked him for promotion keeping in mind the requirement. Now he’s sitting in Vizag, doing nothing because there hasn’t been any movement,” said one Naval officer to StratPost.

The officer also told StratPost that while Defense Minister AK Antony had announced the Navy to be the lead maritime security agency last week, it was not clear as to how this was to be implemented. “We’re still not sure how this is supposed to pan out,” he said.

The confused state of affairs is worrying the Navy as it would like the structure for managing maritime security and intelligence to be sorted out out as soon as possible, especially if it is expected to take over as the lead agency from the Coast Guard, as announced by the Defense Minister last week.

The officer also told StratPost the delay may be partly caused by inter-departmental politicking. “The delay might be because of some silly turf battle. Others might want to be the designated authorities and this could have led to the delay in progress.”