New Delhi: UN body International Civil
Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has found India to be among a few
countries which have complied with global standards for
aviation security, officials said on Monday.
A team of ICAO officials recently conducted a security
audit of India's aviation sector under the Universal Security
Audit Programme and found India to be "one among the top few
countries which have complied with all the global standards in
aviation security in the aviation industry today", they said.
In several aspects, India had done much more than the
prescribed basic minimum standards, the officials claimed,
adding that the aviation security systems were found to be
"well-defined and complete" and "there were no major issues".
While the legislative framework was being strengthened
with new Aviation Security Rules being in the process of being
adopted, the government was also working on restructuring the
Bureau of Civil Aviation Security to enhance its oversight
capability and strengthen it.
International security consultants from ICAO have been
engaged to study the aviation security system here for making
further improvements as also to restructure the BCAS.
Airport security was also being reviewed in
consultation with the Home Ministry and intelligence agencies
and various proposals to improve the security are under active
consideration, they said.
The anti-hijacking amendment bill, prescribing death
penalty in place of life imprisonment for the offence, has
already been introduced in the Parliament. Passenger
facilitation was also being given equal importance while
beefing up security, the officials said.
India has also committed to offer technical and other
logistical assistance to needy countries in the field of
aviation security.
This international cooperation could be in the form of
information gathering, intelligence sharing or deployment of
new technologies and exchange of best practices, they said.
PTI
First Published: Monday, February 14, 2011, 20:56