India steps up maritime security to check drone attacks

A week after the drone attack on cargo vessel MV Chem Pluto in the Arabian Sea, the Indian Navy said it was enhancing maritime surveillance efforts and augmenting force levels in the central and north Arabian Sea.

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This comes in the wake of increased maritime security incidents on merchant vessels transiting through international shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

While Task Groups, comprising destroyers and frigates, have been deployed to undertake maritime security operations and render assistance to merchant vessels in case of any incident, aerial surveillance by long-range maritime patrol aircraft and RPAs has been enhanced for total maritime domain awareness. “Towards effective surveillance of EEZ, the Indian Navy is operating in close coordination with the Indian Coast Guard,” the statement by Indian Navy said.