The next terror attack could be from the sea

Last week’s serial bomb blasts in Jaipur, in which over 60 people were killed, has demonstrated yet again how ill-equipped India is to handle the new complexities of terror warfare. A new command must be created to protect the nation. Jaipur was the eleventh major terrorist strike on ‘soft’ targets in the past three years. The political leadership has stuttered out its usual statements about ‘resilience’ and ‘foreign hand’ ad nauseam, while the bureaucracy has predictably kept mum on what is a colossal failure of leadership and intelligence at both the Central and state levels. The Intelligence Bureau, in the meantime, has suggested that terrorists are planning seaborne attacks against the dozens of oil rigs, including production and support platforms, along both the coasts of India. This appears to have fallen on deaf ears. The extreme vulnerability of the oil rigs was vividly displayed by the massive fire and total destruction of an oil production platform in Bombay High in July 2005 when an offshore support vessel (OSV) accidentally collided with the rigs’ underwater pipeline. This resulted in a massive search and rescue operation by the Indian Navy, the Coast Guard and by civilian ships, followed by counter pollution-operations by the Coast Guard to prevent pollution along the Mumbai coastline. There is an organisation to deal with offshore security threats to oil rigs, coastal refineries, coastal nuclear power plants and ports. The threat from the sea can take various forms – trained ‘sea terrorists’ can attack by approaching the target in dhows or even submersibles, making the last mile in collapsible rubber boats, lay explosives in the most vulnerable parts and depart or carry out suicide attacks. Another alternative would be to bring in explosives-laden ship and collide it against the target, or sink it in the harbour approach to block the port. And, of course, the terrorists can enter coastal targets by land and cover the last stretch, as in Israel, in microlite aircraft to get in. In any such terror attack, the repercussions would be severe – economic, environmental and in sheer terms of shock. There have been reports that the government is considering handing over the 2010 Commonwealth Games project to the Army keeping in view the failure of the bureaucracy and civil administration to deliver. With Jaipur’s incident in focus, does it not look like it is time to hand over all anti-terrorist activities to three separate ‘empowered’ joint commands, which will include all elements of the military, para-military, police, intelligence, railways, ports, airports land any other agency that needs to be a part of the apparatus? These commands can be headed by the Army, for land threats, the Navy for seaborne-coastal threats and the Air Force to address aerial threats. Laws to permit the Navy and Coast Guard to board and search suspicious ships need to be introduced earliest. Global terrorism is a hard reality, and it is here to say, irrespective of individual perceptions and views. Dealing with this new form of asymmetric war will require the combined might and wisdom of all of India. The present form of asymmetric war being waged by international terrorists who serve no nation is, after all, too serious an issue to be left only to the politicians, bure3aucrats and the overstretched intelligence agencies and paramilitary forces. Remember the old saying: ‘Steel fist in a velvet glove’? That is what we need.

Vice Admiral Arun Kumar Singh
Retired as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief
Of the Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam.
The Asian Age – May 19, 2008.

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