The Indian Coast Guard intercepted and detained a privately-owned American ship (not a vessel of the US Navy) off Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu on October 12, for carrying 31 assault rifles, more than 5,000 rounds of live ammunition and 1,500 litres of illegally-obtained diesel. The ship had entered the territorial waters of India without declaring the arms and ammo to Customs authorities as is mandatory under international maritime protocol. The ship also did not have a cargo manifest. The captain has not yet furnished the manifest nor provided any documents relating to the cargo his ship was carrying. Neither did he enlighten the authorities about the destination of the ship. The ship was found to have been frequenting the Indian Ocean and had entered India’s territorial waters more than once. While the interrogation of the captain and the crew was going on, Nehchal Sandhu, a Deputy National Security Adviser, proffered to give an unsolicited certificate three days later to the effect that he “did not think the American ship was involved in gun-running”. He did not clarify how he reached at such a conclusion and why he issued such a certificate even before the investigation was completed. That was the first indication about New Delhi not being interested in detaining the ship but being in favour of freeing it for reasons not being made public for reasons unknown. Otherwise, no senior official concerned with national security would have come out with such a comment. What was being suspected at the time has now been confirmed: Washington has, indeed, put great diplomatic pressure on New Delhi to free the ship. This suggests two things. First, that the US knows the type of activity the vessel has been engaged in and second, that whatever the ship was doing was with the knowledge and consent of Washington. As the servile attitude of the UPA Government to the US is well known, it should be only a matter of time before the ship is allowed to leave with its suspicious cargo. The only fly in the ointment is the Tamil Nadu government and Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. She insists that since the ship was detained in Tamil Nadu, it is the state government that will deal with the matter, especially after a formal FIR has been registered with the state police and the ship will not be allowed to go scot-free. Who ultimately wins, the state or centre, remains to be seen. What is obvious is that to please the US authorities, the UPA Government will not hesitate to endanger and compromise with national security.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 03:25:56 +0000
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