New Delhi, Sep 8: With indications of terror groups making attempts to infiltrate into the country through sea route, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today pitched for a comprehensive maritime policy to maintain vigil along the coastal line.
During his 15-minute speech at a meeting of top police officers of the country, Singh spoke about threats from terror groups and said the police forces were still in the process of developing capabilities to take pre-emptive action in respect of terrorist threats especially in the hinterland.
He said while there were increasing infiltration attempts across the Line of Control and International Border, indications were that terrorist groups are maintaining their ability to use the sea route.
“In Jammu and Kashmir, we are beginning to see increasing infiltration attempts, across the Line of Control and even the International Border. There are also indications about terrorist groups maintaining their ability to use the sea route. Vigilance, therefore, needs to be exercised not only on our land borders but along the coast line as well.
“The comprehensive scheme of Maritime Domain Awareness to be led by the Navy would help strengthen coastal vigilance, whereas deployment of more permanent border obstacles and better sensors could improve the situation along the land borders,” he said on the concluding day of a three-day long meeting of Directors and Inspectors General of Police here.
Though Singh did not name any terror outfit at the meeting organised by Intelligence Bureau, ten terrorist of Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Taiba outfit had used sea route to infiltrate and attack Mumbai in November 2008 that left over 160 people dead.
On terror threats in the hinterland, the Prime Minister said, “We are still in the process of developing capabilities to take pre-emptive action in respect of terrorist threats. “Realignment of operational approaches, training of police personnel and more effective collaboration among states and between States and the Centre should form part of our overall strategy of dealing with the menace of terrorism,” Singh said.
Talking about the increased use of social media and misuse of Internet, he said the government was working on a robust cyber security structure which addresses threat management and mitigation, assurance and certification, specially building capacity and enhancing research.
“Our country's vulnerability to cyber crime is escalating as our economy and critical infrastructure become increasingly reliant on interdependent computer networks and the Internet. “Large-scale computer attacks on our critical infrastructure and economy can have potentially devastating results,” he said.
He also called for devising a strategy to counter the propaganda carried out in social networking sites and said while working on a plan to counter it, a careful examination needs to be done that it does not infringe on the rights of freedom of expression of the people.
