Soldiers at the Birchganj war games. (PTI)

Port Blair, March 24: Soldiers from a Gorkha unit today beached from the sea in fast-attack craft, emerged through a smokescreen, raked a hillock with gunfire, busted bunkers and teamed up with mates who slithered down from a helicopter to take a fictitious enemy by surprise in this Bay of Bengal archipelago.

In the sylvan settings of a golf course that doubled as a mock battleground along the Andamans’ fascinating coastline at Birchganj, the rat-a-tat of gunfire, the boom of mortars and the chop-chop of a helicopter appear so misplaced.

Yet, this is just what the war game, christened Exercise Blazing Khukri, was meant to demonstrate to defence minister A.K. Antony who watched from a grandstand. Behind the peace and the beauty of these emerald isles, the military is saying, there lurks grave danger.

The soldiers of the 5/5 Gorkha Rifles’ battalion are part of the 108 Mountain Brigade that makes up the army component in India’s only unified command in a theatre. The Andaman and Nicobar Command also includes the naval, Coast Guard and air force components.

“Eternal vigilance is a must,” said Antony afterwards, impressed by the firepower and the discipline. “I will ensure that surveillance is intensified. All kinds of surveillance equipment needed for our coasts will be supplied. With the land borders almost sealed, there is always a danger of a terrorist attack from the sea.”

The defence minister was also given a lengthy briefing in the operations room of the brigade. The briefing was conducted over a sand model and with visual depictions by a brigadier to illustrate the command’s threat assessment.

Among the things to watch out for, Antony was told, is piracy in the Malacca Straits through which one of the world’s busiest sea lanes of communication runs. The straits lie just south-east of the southernmost tip of the islands at Indira Point.

But the command also pointed out that the tide of economic liberalisation was also likely to wash over the Andamans. The civil administration has been considering proposals from business groups to lease a number of islands and throw them open to tourism.

The decision lies with the Centre but the command has to weigh the security risks such ventures carry with them. An officer pointed out the spurt in the number of pleasure boats docking in the islands this year.