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Talks deadlocked over resuming IA flights to Nepal

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

A high-level delegation from the Indian civil aviation ministry and its Nepali counterpart failed to make any breakthrough on Tuesday, after day-long deliberations over resuming Indian Airlines flights to Kathmandu.

All IA flights to Nepal were suspended after the December 24 hijack of IC 814.

According to sources, the Nepali government has not accepted the demands of Indian authorities, which include permission to station more than a couple of Indian Airlines security personnel at the ladder point. The IA officials should also be allowed to frisk passengers and check their baggage, the Indian side has demanded.

Further, New Delhi wants an X-ray machine managed by the Indian Airlines authorities to check the passengers' baggage.

The Indian delegation is led by joint secretary in the ministry of civil aviation, Sunil Arora and comprises additional commissioner (Bureau of Civil Aviation Security) P T Lohar and director (Indian Airlines security) Himmat Singh.

The talks are expected to continue on Wednesday.

According to sources, the Nepali authorities are against stationing Indian security staff at the Tribhuvan International Airport, since that could be perceived in political circles as compromising their national sovereignty.

The anti-India plank is a strong mobilising factor for several Opposition parties in Nepal, and even within the ruling Nepali Congress there is a large section which openly exhibits their hatred for India.

According to sources, senior officials in the Nepal civil aviation ministry told the Indian delegation that if they want to frisk passengers, 'you could do it inside the plane'.

The Indian side argued that permitting foreign airlines' staffers to carry out security checks before boarding, is permitted under the Chicago Convention. "The officials seem to understand our argument, but the political establishment is apprehensive," sources said.

Indian Airlines had suspended all its operations to Nepal in the wake of the hijack of IC 814 on December 24, and New Delhi blames the lax security arrangements at the airport for the hijack.

A thriving ground for smugglers and currency racketeers, the airport has numerous security agencies, none of which is efficient.

However, a Nepali panel that inquired into the hijack had reportedly given a clean chit to the airport staff.

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