Wednesday, February 18, 2009
New Delhi : A nuclear attack by terrorists? This may no longer be confined to celluloid fiction as India sounded out a grim warning on Wednesday.
“The container would be the most likely means for terrorist organisations to illegally transport a nuclear weapon,” Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta said. The use of the sea in the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai may just be a trailer. The Navy Chief has pointed out a key vulnerability that terrorists may want to exploit, and that is, India's inadequate port security, and the lack of means to scan shipping containers. “None of the Indian ports is CSI compliant,” Mehta revealed. The US-led Container Security Initiative is stuck in politics. India opposes the intrusive provision of US Customs officials supervising scanning at Indian ports. But the Navy Chief wants the Government to find a way out. “The airport security system has been working fairly well over a large number of years. And a similar system for containers would have universal acceptance,” Mehta suggested. The only good news is that the Cabinet has approved the unified functioning of all maritime security agencies, all of which will now report to the regional Navy boss. “To bring about greater coordination there will be a joint operation centre which will function from both the coasts. We will have a composite control over deployment of all maritime assets,” Mehta said. A handful of terrorists with powerful state mentors are forcing the world to change its security architecture.
“The container would be the most likely means for terrorist organisations to illegally transport a nuclear weapon,” Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta said. The use of the sea in the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai may just be a trailer. The Navy Chief has pointed out a key vulnerability that terrorists may want to exploit, and that is, India's inadequate port security, and the lack of means to scan shipping containers. “None of the Indian ports is CSI compliant,” Mehta revealed. The US-led Container Security Initiative is stuck in politics. India opposes the intrusive provision of US Customs officials supervising scanning at Indian ports. But the Navy Chief wants the Government to find a way out. “The airport security system has been working fairly well over a large number of years. And a similar system for containers would have universal acceptance,” Mehta suggested. The only good news is that the Cabinet has approved the unified functioning of all maritime security agencies, all of which will now report to the regional Navy boss. “To bring about greater coordination there will be a joint operation centre which will function from both the coasts. We will have a composite control over deployment of all maritime assets,” Mehta said. A handful of terrorists with powerful state mentors are forcing the world to change its security architecture.
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