Ahmedabad (PTI): The new regional headquarters of the Navy to be set up in Gujarat will help protect the porous 1660 km long coastline in Gujarat, said Gujarat leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil.

He said that the Central government on Saturday announced that a regional headquarter of the Navy will be set up in Gujarat, which would be designated as "North-West region" and a new post of Commander Coast Guard will look after surveillance of the state's coast.

"The Gujarat coast is vulnerable because of its strategic location and proximity to Pakistan," he said, adding,"the Central government has rightly allocated a regional headquarter in Gujarat, which will strengthen the security cover of the coast."

He said that Navy's regional headquarter will have state of the art equipments, choppers, ships and boats and there will be more than 1000 jawans.

According to him, Congress led UPA government has always accorded top priority to the national security and after 26/11 Mumbai attack, coastal security is the top priority of the central government.

He said that the central government has already sanctioned 10 marine police stations in the state which have already become functional on the coastal areas.