By Liz Mathew, IANS
Port Blair : Maritime threats in the Andaman waters have been under control since India’s unified command took over the region, but terrorism, drug trafficking, arms smuggling and poaching continue to be major concerns for the region.
According to Air Marshal S. Radhakrishnan, commander-in-chief of the Andaman and Nicobar command, the region is still prone to drug running and illegal arms smuggling as the waterway was the easiest approach to many countries including the Sri Lankan and Indian coasts.
“There have not been major incidents. We had intercepted the attempts. But there is a possibility. After all, it is a waterway. It is the approach that is used whether it is to Sri Lanka or other parts of Indian coast land,” Radhakrishnan told IANS here.
He said poaching in the region had also come down drastically since the unified command – all three wings of the Indian armed forces and Coast Guards – took charge in 2001.
“It is not alarming in our area now. Poaching could take place when it was at isolated locations. Our response becomes faster. So it is not there,” said Radhakrishnan, who was talking to IANS on the sidelines of Milan 08, a congregation of navies from 12 countries here.
The fragile ecology of India’s Andaman and Nicobar archipelago was under severe threat from widespread illegal fishing, poaching of rare species and the collection of rare coral from the region.
The officials say that the command had the means to put all the 572 islands, islets and rocks of the archipelago under surveillance.
“Any intrusion will be detected and action will follow,” Radhakrishnan said.
Brigadier S. Ahmad Ali, brigade commander in the islands, denied that there have been serious threats here from militant groups like the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
“There is no information about LTTE militants trying to make it a station. We are always patrolling with the help of the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force. We keep sending our detachments and whenever we find an opportunity we land in different islands to carry out random checks at frequent intervals.
“We have so far ensured that the island is free from such trafficking,” Ali said.
Radhakrishnan added: “Any time there is a requirement when we need to intervene, we have the force with us to intercede.”
Navy officials from the Asia-Pacific littoral countries who have been discussing maritime threats for three days here also pointed out that there were now new concepts of security in the waters.
“We have gone away from an idea that the national offence is an issue of security. A security concept at large is economic security, environmental security, political freedom, etc,” said Captain Vaughan Rixon, commander of the Australian Navy Patrol Boat Force Element Group.
He said organisational structures that allow all countries concerned to go together against such menaces were essential for the region’s security. “We have come to an agreement that collective security is an important issue.”