Navy chief snubbed, denied VVIP aircraft

New Delhi: In an unprecedented snub, defence minister AK Antony has refused the Navy chief, Sureesh Mehta, a chartered VVIP plane for a foreign visit, asking him to instead fly a commercial airline. The denial is the latest in a series of political decisions that convey the government’s extreme displeasure over how the naval headquarters has been handling policy issues.
A few days ago, Antony wrote a strongly-worded rejoinder to the naval headquarters for not informing the ministry well in advance about the participation of a US warship — USS Cole — in the just-concluded Exercise Konkan 2008. The exercise coincided with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s India visit.
According to dependable sources, Antony last week refused Admiral Mehta’s request to fly a VVIP Embraer plane of the defence ministry for his upcoming visit to Thailand. The minister has instructed Admiral Mehta to instead take a commercial airline for the visit. MoD has four Embraer planes and it is routine for service chiefs to fly around in special planes.
The refusal comes at a time when questions are being raised in the government about Admiral Mehta’s 12-day long trip to the US when parliament was in session — he returned this weekend.
05/05/08 Josy Joseph/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Foreign May 2008, Indian Aviation- In General May 2008