In the wake of Somali pirates moving eastwards towards India to hijack vessels, top Coast Guard officials on Monday said there was an attempt to see whether there was any link between the pirates and terrorists. Coast Guard D-G vice-admiral Anil Chopra said on Monday that pirates “were moving eastwards” towards India with the help of large “mother vessels” used for piracy. When asked by reporters about speculation of there being any possible link between the pirates and Pakistan-based terror groups, Vice-Admiral Chopra said that in case of any reports, there would be an “attempt to see whether there was any link between these people (pirates and poachers) and terrorists”. He said, “Somali piracy has extended itself. They are moving eastwards. The only place (towards which they are moving) is India.”
On Friday, the Indian Navy had fired in self-defence on a pirate vessel just about 75 miles from the Lakshadweep islands. The pirate vessel was detected by a Coast Guard aircraft. Vice-Admiral Chopra said that pirates would hesitate in approaching near the shores of the Indian mainland since they would get “clobbered” (by the Indian armed forces). He added that he did not see any security threat to India from the pirates. He said the pirates — who were focusing on hijacking merchant vessels — would prefer operating on the high seas (international waters) and pointed out that the maritime area between the Lakshadweep Islands and the Maldives was a region through which many merchant vessels pass on route from the Gulf to China and Japan.
Vice-Admiral Chopra also spoke about plans to double the fleet and aircraft strength of the Coast Guard soon from the current 100 ships and 50 aircraft to 200 ships and 100 aircraft. He said the Coast Guard fleet strength would triple by 2020. Pointing out that 11 ships and six Coast Guard stations were commissioned in 2010, he said that the government had also sanctioned procurement of 30 helicopters for the Coast Guard. He also spelt out proposed plans for eventual construction of a separate training academy for the Coast Guard.