Nepal rejects India’s plea for sky marshals

New Delhi: Fearing a repeat of Kandahar kind of hijack, India has made a strong plea to the Nepal government for deployment of sky marshals on all Kathmandu bound flights.
It has also offered Nepal to open a security counter manned by the elite Central Industrial Security Force for checking and screening of baggage at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport.
However, Nepal, wary of the bad publicity the move can bring about internationally and hit its tourism industry, has politely turned down the offer.
Their refrain was that this would create unnecessary alarm about Nepal and affect their tourism industry that has already taken a hit because of a Maoist led government, said sources.
Instead, it has offered Delhi all the help needed to weed out terrorists from its soil and increase vigil and security check at the airport.
The silver lining for Indian security agencies is that Nepal has promised to look into the possibilities of installing and using equipment supplied by India for screening and checking passengers and baggage.
“They have also promised to get back to us for training of their personnel to man the airport effectively.
If they agree, we would be more than happy to train their personnel on security aspects and anti-hijacking techniques," said a source.
The infamous Kandahar hijack of IC 814, a Delhi bound Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu, occurred on the eve of Christmas in 1999.
14/11/08 Manan Kumar/Express Buzz

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Categories: Airports Nov 2008, Foreign Nov 2008, Safety Nov 2008