India on terrorists' radar, says Antony

Warning that India is on "the radar of terrorists", defence minister A K Antony today said the government was receiving information on some terror threat or the other everyday.

Warning that India is on "the radar of terrorists", defence minister A K Antony on Friday said the government was receiving information on some terror threat or the other everyday.

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"India is on the radar of terrorists and we have to keep continuous and constant vigil. Almost everyday we are getting information on threats from terrorists. But we have to be vigilant," Antony told reporters here when asked to comment on the recent reports of terror threats to Mumbai metropolis.

"This is only a report. Actually, after 26/11, hundreds of such threats have been defeated. We cannot take rest. 24X7 we have to be vigilant," he said.

Noting that the Coast Guard, Navy and other armed forces were always vigilant, he said the current focus of these maritime security forces was to secure the island territories of the country as a large number of them were uninhabited.

He said compared to the situation before 26/11, coastal security in the last two years had improved vastly and was not "superior" and noted that several acquisition plans of the Coast Guard would fructify in 2011.

"This is record year for Coast Guard in terms of new boats, ships and assets. We have also cleared the doubling of its force levels and training is going on now for new recruits," he said.

He said the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was in the process of manufacturing and delivering 12 new Dornier aircraft for CG.

However, there were some technical problems with regard to leasing of eight reconnaissance medium lift helicopters for which a new tender has been issued, he added.