March 5, 2019
NEW DELHI: Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba has warned that there are reports
about terrorists being trained to carry out attacks on India by sea.
Admiral Lanba said, "We have reports of terrorists being trained to carry out
operations in various modus operandi, including through the medium of the sea."
India faces a "far more serious" version of "state-sponsored" terrorism, he
said, addressing a gathering of global experts at the Indo-Pacific Regional
Dialogue in New Delhi on Tuesday.
"We recently saw the horrific scale of the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir
about three weeks ago. This violence was perpetrated by terrorists aided and
abetted by a country that seeks to destabilise India," the navy chief said.
"We have seen how quickly terror groups evolve across the globe. A particular
brand of terror can well become a global problem in near future," Admiral Lanba
warned.
He noted that "it is imperative that the global community works in concert
to contain and eliminate terrorism in all its forms. There is a renewed focus
of the world on the seas. This is principally due to the geoeconomic and geopolitical
significance of the maritime domain."
India is a maritime nation and, recently, there have been an increasing attention
to harness potential of the maritime domain for the country's growth and regional
development, he said.
"It is widely accepted that (the) Indo-Pacific Region has been growing in geopolitical
significance in recent years due to economic, political and other reasons,"
he said.
The 26/11 terror attack was carried out by 10 sea-borne terrorists of the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
On February 14, a suicide bomber of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed or
JeM attacked a CRPF convoy Kashmir's Pulwama killing 40 soldiers.
Meanwhile, the Navy refuted Pakistan's claim that it stopped an Indian submarine
from sneaking into its territorial waters. "The Indian Navy does not take cognizance
of such propaganda. Our deployments remain undeterred," the Navy tweeted.
"Indian Navy remains deployed as necessary to protect national maritime interests.
Over the past several days we have witnessed Pakistan indulging in false propaganda
and spread of misinformation," the Navy said in a statement on tuesday.
Earlier, Pakistan released a video of what it claimed was an Indian submarine
trying to enter its territorial waters. "The Pakistan Navy used its specialised
skills to ward off the submarine, successfully keeping it from entering Pakistani
waters," a Pakistani Navy spokesperson said. "The Indian submarine was not targeted
keeping in view Pakistan's policy of peace," he said, according to PTI.
"The Indian Navy does not take cognizance of such propaganda. Our deployments
remain undeterred," the Navy tweeted. "As was stated during the Jt Press Statement
on 28 Feb 19, the #IndianNavy remains deployed as necessary to protect National
Maritime Interests. Over the past several days we have witnessed Pakistan indulging
in false propoganda and spread of misinformation."
