INDIAN DEFENSE MINISTER A.K.ANTONY ORDERS MORE SHIPS AND AIRCRAFT FOR COAST GUARD AFTER CATCHING 2 EXPLOSIVE LADEN TIGER BOATS

By Walter Jayawardhana

India’s Defense Minister A.K. Antony has ordered bigger ships and more aircraft for surveillance for the Indian Coast Guard as a result of the seizure of arms and explosives carrying Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) boats off the Tamil Nadu coast.

He also asked the armed forces to be alert to the “danger lurking” near India’s shores after a Fleet Review of the Coast Guard ships , Indian news websites reported.

He was quoted having said ,"We have to be constantly alert, otherwise there is danger lurking at the sea coasts," Apart from the two LTTE boats carrying explosives and other material necessary to fabricate claymore mines like high -powered plastic explosives and steel balls used as shrapnel seized by the Indian Navy and the Indian coastguard Sri Lanka Navy also has been engaging many LTTE boats coming from India carrying arms and ammunition.

From the latest boat sunk by the Sri Lanka Navy frogmen later salvaged 28 sacks of steel balls made in India containing 1.5 million balls to be used as shrapnel in improvised explosive devices popularly known as claymore mines.

Antony told reporters the arms, explosives and the suicide belt found in one of the LTTE boats could be only the tip of the iceberg. "There can be several such instances in the vast sea," the alarmed Indian Defense Minister said

Before Antony made that statement India’s controversial Janatha Party leader Subramanian Swami suggested that the state government of the DMK of Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi should be dissolved since some of his coalition partners openly support the LTTE.

Antony’s statement also comes in the wake of the statement of Security Advisor M.K. Narayan’s remarks that some non existing company’s operating in Mumbai and Chennai stock markets have been traced to the Sri Lankan terrorist group , the LTTE. Narayan has been constantly attacked by LTTE supporter Gopalaswamy Vaiko as being pro-Sri Lankan.

Vaiko leads another political party in Tamil Nadu known as MDMK. Narayan has said the LTTE was raising funds for its activities in the stock market. “Terrorists, who have launched attacks in India killing hundreds of people, as well as Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers had in part funded activities through legitimate businesses, including restaurants, real estate and shipping” Narayanan was quoted having said at a conference in Munich, Germany. He suggested lifting of corporate veil and bank secrecy in terrorist related cases.

On the top of all that Home Minister Shivraj Patil has said terrorist groups were making inroads into big cities and operating clandestinely.

Defense Minister Antony thanked India’s intelligence services crediting them for the seizure of the suspected LTTE boat, and said, "We are in the process of upgrading our intelligence-gathering capabilities."

According to him the Coast Guard has massive expansion plans, including the acquisition of 15 new ships and 23 aircraft. He said the plan includes multi-mission maritime aircraft, twin engine helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to enhance the capability to carry out surface and aerial surveillance.

"The Coast Guard is the youngest and a fast growing force of the country and its demands to make it a better force are being met," he further said. To enhance the fleet of ships of the coast guard he has requested both state owned and private shipyards to speed up the production of ships. He said he wanted to make the surveillance of India’s coast the topmost priority of both the Coast Guard and the Indian navy.

Defense Minister Antony also said that the Central government of India through the Home Ministry is helping coastal states to establish more police stations along the coast in this direction.
To prevent terrorist boats bringing arms and ammunition to the island Sri Lanka has requested joint patrols of the navies of both countries but pro-LTTE Tamil Nadu political parties have brought pressure on the government to stop it.