The Indian Navy will conduct a large-scale coastal defence exercise next month to test the robustness of the entire coastal security apparatus.

The 'Exercise sea vigil' will involve all stake holders across mainland and Island territories, and will see the participation of all operational ships, submarines and aircraft as well as units of Indian coast guards, Indian Army and the Indian Air Force, Indian Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba said on Monday.

"Theatre level operational readiness exercise 'Tropex' will begin from January and culminate in March, next year," he said.

"We remain actively engaged with the Indian Coast Guard to maintain a sharp vigil over our vast coastline, including over our island territories, he added.

He also asserted that dedicated joint coastal security exercises such as 'Sagar Kavach' and 'Avardhan' have significantly augmented the collective surveillance efforts along the coastal areas.

Talking about anti-piracy operations undertaken by the Indian Navy, Admiral Lanba said in the past year, as many as 44 piracy attempts have been thwarted and 120 pirates apprehended.

Further stressing on the Indian Navy's commitment towards combating piracy in the Gulf of Aden, Admiral Lanba said, "Indian Navy remains committed to curbing this global menace. Since 2008, a total of 70 Indian naval warships have been deployed, which safely escorted over 3,440 ships with over 25,000 mariners on board."

He further informed that the Indian navy has participated in close to 20 exercises with friendly countries this year.

" Our participation across a wide canvas ranging from Varuna off Reunion island, Malabar off Guam, RIMPAC at Hawai, Kakadu at Darwin, WPNS cum IFR at Jeju , Republic of Korea, IBSAMAR off Simons Town, South Africa , SLINEX off Port Blair and Vizag have helped us further enhance our collaborative efforts with the navies of the Indian Ocean Region and beyond," Admiral Lamba said.

He also underlined that under Government of India's overall rubric of 'Neighbourhood First' policy, the Indian Navy has also undertaken joint EEZ patrols of the Maldives, Seychelles and Mauritius. It has also Coordinated Patrols (CORPATs) with Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia.

Maiden Bilateral Exercises with UAE and Indonesia and Maiden CORPAT with Bangladesh were also commenced this year, he informed.

These activities help enhance interoperability and ensure security in our maritime neighbourhood as well as in the global commons, he said.

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