Southern naval command's Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Vice Admiral S.K. Damle said: "We have to make sure that our coastal borders are secure and allow no unauthorised elements to come into our country."
The officer said that tight vigil along the Tamil Nadu coast has forced the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealem (LTTE) to look for other areas to infiltrate. He said that there have been reports of movement of LTTE boats off the western coast.
"LTTE is not a question of today. Earlier too we found that the moment the Indian Navy increased vigil along the Tamil Nadu coast, many unauthorised persons, including the LTTE, were coming in from the west coast," Damle said. Damle, who was in Goa to to attend a passing out parade of cadets at INS Mandovi, also said that there is no cooperation between the Indian and Sri Lankan navies.
"The Sri Lankan navy is acting on their own for their own security and there is no direct coordination between the southern naval command and the Sri Lankan navy," Damle told reporters.
Commenting on the slow pace of development vis-a-vis reinforcing the coastal defence mechanism, Damle said that while state officials were "doing their best", it was still not good enough.
He also advocated better interaction with fishermen and other marine agencies for increased vigilance on India's coast.