India, Austria may sign pact for coastal surveillance

NEW DELHI: Amid rising instances of piracy, India and Austria are likely to sign an agreement to explore opportunities for collaborations across various segments, including coastal surveillance and inland water transport.

"The Shipping Minister and the Austrian government are likely to sign a pact for exploring collaboration opportunities in the sector," a source close to the development said.

Doris Bures, Austrian Minister of Transport, Innovation and Technology is likely to sign the agreement tomorrow.

The areas which are likely to be the focus would be waterway management systems for control and monitoring of waterways, river information services and inland waterways management, among others.

The initial agreement may also look at river water management, regulatory aspects of inland water transport.

"The two countries are also likely to deliberate upon sharing of dredging technology," the source added.

Coastal surveillance is also likely to be discussed during the talks. This comes in the wake of various incidents of piracy across the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen.

The government is mulling deploying armed CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) guards on-board Indian merchant vessels in order to thwart any piracy attempt.