'U.S. plane was on a limited mission'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 29. The Government today sought to clear the air surrounding the landing of a U.S. military aircraft on Friday by stating that the plane was engaged in a very limited mission: it transported six American personnel for duty with the U.S. Embassy here. While acknowledging that the plane, a U.S. Air Force C-130, had refuelled here, the External Affairs Ministry pointed out that this was a routine courtesy extended under the circumstances.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman, when contacted, confirmed that the aircraft had indeed landed six military personnel to reinforce the defence attache's office as well as to fill in some vacancies. He added that for now there were no plans to land more U.S. military aircraft.

Government sources here said that the U.S. plane had arrived at the Palam air force base from Paylebar, near Singapore. They pointed out that since the September 11 event, senior U.S. Government personnel routinely have taken to utilising the C-130 as their transport vehicle.

Under attack by the Left parties and having mustered only conditional support from the Congress, the official statement sought to dispel the view that the plane's arrival was linked to possible action against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The C- 130 transport aircraft, it said, had arrived from Singapore and ``as is the usual practice with aircraft turnarounds, the U.S. military aircraft refuelled in New Delhi for its return journey''. The plane, the statement added, had landed after seeking permission from the Government ``in accordance with the prescribed procedure''.

Earlier in the day, the Congress leader, Mr. K. Natwar Singh, had rung up the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, to ascertain the facts about refuelling and the final destination of the plane. Mr. Singh was encashing the blank cheque the Prime Minister had given to the Opposition at the last all-party meeting where he had told the leaders that he could keep in touch with him to clarify any development instead of relying merely on media reports.

Within an hour, the Prime Minister called him up to assure him that the landing of the U.S. military aircraft had nothing to do with the proposed action in Afghanistan. The Prime Minister also informed him that the aircraft had returned to Singapore after dropping the Embassy staff. A similar assurance was given to Mr.Singh by the Prime Minister's Principal Secretary, Mr. Brajesh Mishra.

Offering limited support to the Government, the Congress had said that it had no objection to refuelling of U.S. military aircraft because ``this has been permitted in the past. Nobody will have objection to the use of Indian airspace and refuelling facilities for fighting international terrorism''.

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