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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| India refuses Chinese air surveillance of Olympic torch in Delhi |
| 2008-04-08 |
| India has refused to allow Chinese air surveillance of the Olympic torch in Delhi. However, keeping diplomatic sensitivities in mind, the Centre has decided to permit a Chinese cargo carrier to fly to Mumbai and Chennai. Paranoid about the security of the torch, China had sought permission from India to track the relay from the air, and evacuate it in case of an emergency. India refused, saying that it could provide “foolproof” protection to the torch. The airspace over Rajpath will be sanitised for the duration of the torch relay. A similar security procedure is put in place for the Republic Day Parade. Such precautions will not be needed if the Olympic establishment decides to call off the international lap of the relay. Sources in security agencies here revealed that the request from China to use Indian airspace had come before the torch ran into trouble in London and Paris. “The request came to the directorate-general of civil aviation (DGCA) through the external affairs ministry. Since it was not a decision the DGCA could take on its own, security agencies were involved,” an official said. After consultations with the top brass of intelligence and security agencies, it was decided to turn down the Chinese request. “We conveyed to them that we were capable of securing the torch on our own,” an official added. However, Indian authorities are making up on another front. The last hurdle to granting security clearance to Great Wall Airlines, the Chinese cargo carrier, will be cleared before the torch reaches India on April 17. The sources said the airline had submitted its security manual to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and would get the clearance to fly to Chennai and Mumbai in the next two to three days. “The ministry of civil aviation was keen to give an early clearance to Great Wall Airlines since Jet’s flight to Shanghai and San Francisco could not take off on account of reciprocity. The long-pending clearance to Air India to operate a flight to Guangzhou was also held back. It was the Intelligence Bureau which was refusing to grant the security clearance,” an official said. The Intelligence Bureau was not in favour of Great Wall Airlines flying to Chennai since the nuclear facility at Kalapakkam is visible from the air. It had similar reasons for objecting to Mumbai, which is close to the Tarapore Atomic Power Station and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. The agency had said the airline could fly to Delhi and not to other metros. “Their concerns were countered by the civil aviation ministry which said everything could be seen more clearly through Google Earth and there was no need for anybody to fly to get a view of sensitive places,” the official added. The main concern of the security agencies had arisen from the fact that one of the former owners of Great Wall Airlines — China Great Wall Industry Corporation — was blacklisted by the US for alleged transfer of missile technology to Iran. “However, it is all in the past now. The airline will soon fly cargo to India,” the official said. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #3 I think somebody tried that to no success in Paris, Paul. May be Americans will be more resourceful.... :-D |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-04-08 22:41 |
| #2 Take a CO2 fire extinguisher, snuff the torch, and send it back from whence it came. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2008-04-08 21:39 |
| #1 OK, this is getting out of hand. Chinese dive bombers strafing Indian protesters is going too far. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-04-08 19:56 |