UAE apologises for aircraft row, India assures early release
India on Tuesday said the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has "apologised" for not declaring the consignment of weapons its China-bound cargo plane was carrying that led to its detention at Kolkata airport, and assured early release of the aircraft will be facilitated.
Indian authorities on Sunday detained an UAE Air Force plane that landed in Kolkata from Abu Dhabi on its way to Xianyang, China, after discovering arms and explosives on board.
The military transport plane, the C-130 Hercules, was allowed to land at Kolkata to refuel, but it did not declare its cargo.
The interrogation of the pilot and nine crew members of aircraft, however, revealed that the flight was carrying arms, ammunition and explosives. The detention of the aircraft, that entered its third day on Tuesday, was threatening to turn into a diplomatic row till the UAE authorities apologised.
Clearing the air, the external affairs ministry said on Tuesday that the confusion arose as no mention of the arms and ammunition was made at the time of initial application for landing.
The authorities at Kolkata airport, therefore, detained the aircraft for further investigation, the ministry said.
"Accordingly, after the concurrence of the pilot-in-command of the aircraft, the custom Officials entered the aircraft to inquire about the nature of cargo," it said in a statement.
"The UAE authorities both here and in Abu Dhabi have since formally regretted the omission in clearly indicating items carried by the aircraft and have described it as a technical error," the ministry said.
Captain of the flight, Major Ibrahim Alshamsei has filed a declaration to the customs stating that the flight was carrying arms/ammunition/explosives. They have also provided details about the cargo which consists of combat missiles, the ministry said.
MEA to facilitate release of arms-laden UAE plane
NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S M Krishna on Tuesday said his ministry would
facilitate early release of the United Arab Emirates Air
Force plane that was detained in
Kolkata after arms and ammunition were found on board.
The decision to facilitate early release of the China-bound plane was taken after the UAE government and embassy in New Delhi "formally regretted" not divulging contents of the cargo and that matter was reduced to a "technical error".
"The UAE authorities both here and in Abu Dhabi have since formally regretted the omission in clearly indicating items carried by the aircraft and have described it as a 'technical error'. They have also provided details about the cargo which consists of combat missile," Mr Krishna said.
The UAE embassy had asked for clearance for overflying and landing of the Air Force flight at Kolkata Airport, but made no mention of the contents of the cargo. The C-130 Hercules, which is among the biggest transport aircraft in the world, had taken off from UAEAF's Western Air Command base in Abu Dhabi and was on its way to Xiangyang in China.
When the flight arrived from Abu Dhabi on September 6, captain of the flight, Major Ibrahim Alshamsei, filed a declaration to Customs saying that the flight was carrying "arms/ammunition/explosives", Mr Krishna said in the statement. Following this, the plane was detained at Kolkata Airport as the initial application made no mention of arms or ammunition.
The captain and the nine crew members were detained and interrogated following which Customs sent a detailed report to the external affairs ministry. India continued to remain in close touch with the UAE government. Based on the contents of the Customs report followed by the clarification and regret expressed by the UAE authorities, MEA decided to facilitate the release of the plane.
