The Civil Aviation
Minister Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy has called for global partnership
to make air travel fully secured. He was addressing the EU-India
Civil Aviation Safety and Security Conference here today. Shri
Rudy said that aviation security which underwent a sea change
following the attack on World Trade Centre in New York and the
Indian Parliament, has put enormous pressure on the agencies
involved in aviation security. This has also pushed up the cost
which adds to the passenger fare. The Minister said, aviation
security can no longer be looked at in isolation but as a part
of the national security and global security as nations can
become targets due to extraneous factors. Part of the problem
could be tackled through technology which demands large resources.
Therefore, pooling of resources should be actively considered
for meeting the security needs.
Shri Rudy said, the
twin issues of safety and security are of paramount concern.
He said, while the safety standards could be improved through
a series of controlled measures like improvement of infrastructure,
air traffic control and training of pilots, it is the unpredictable
nature of the security threat that makes the task difficult.
He said closely associated with the security issue is the immigration
and border management where again we have to club together our
resources. What makes the airport security vulnerable is the
variety of people associated with the airlines business who
have to be given access to the airport.
Speaking on the occasion
the EU ambassador to India Mr. Michel Caillouet said that EU-India
Cooperation in the aviation sector is to bring the industry
and the regulatory authorities together. He said, the urgency
of the security issue has been felt particularly during the
last two years. He said air safety also demands effort to reduce
human error.
About 250 experts
from Europe and India are attending the three day conference.
They include experts from 70 companies and regulatory authorities.
