The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Tuesday, December 5, 2000,
Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

M A I N N E W S

Shorter, quicker flights to Canada
By Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 4 — In October next year when Canada 3000 introduces flights to New Delhi and Mumbai from Toronto and Vancouver, these will be routed through the North Pole and take three to five hours less than the conventional flights.

Two senior officials of the Canada 3000 airline — Mr Angus Kinnear and Mr David Hardouin — were in India last month and will came again in January next year to finalise all modalities and formalities to start these flights from October 1.

According to Mr Peter Sutherland, High Commissioner of Canada to India, the Ministry of Transport of the Government of Canada had awarded a schedule service licence to Canada 3000 to provide airline services between Canada and India within one year from October 17 this year.

Mr Kinnear and Mr Hardouin under took a preliminary visit to India, said Mr Sutherland, maintaining that the new service would be a direct non-stop flight, both from Vancouver and Toronto. “The flight will not only cut the travel time but also save the travellers from changing aircraft midway, in either Europe or Asia”.

The airline expects a minimum of three lakh persons to travel on the India-Canada route annually. At present, there are 7,00,000 Indo-Canadians in Canada, a majority of them Punjabis and Sikhs.

In July this year, both Russia and Canada agreed to allow travel over the North Pole thus enabling North American airlines to fly direct from Canada and USA to Asia.

“A trip from Toronto to New Delhi through the North Pole will take about 12 hours while from Vancouver to New Delhi, it will take about 14 hours of direct flying,” said Mr Sutherland.

In March this year, an American Airlines Boeing 777 flew over the North Pole on a flight from Chicago to Hong Kong. It was for the first time that a commercial airline had flown a twin-engined aircraft via a polar route. The flight had taken 15 hours and 13 minutes.

Two Russian Government officials were aboard the first-ever commercial polar flight, which was under Russian air traffic control for about five hours.

Diplomatic complications, obsolete equipment and procedures had prevented the use of the polar route. Both Russia and Canada are charging heavy fees for the use of their air space. The airlines, too, expect big savings as fuel costs will drop and so will the landing fees as stopovers will be no longer necessary.

It is, however, not clear whether the savings will translate into lower fares.

It was more than three years ago that Air Canada packed up its operations to India via London. Even India’s national carrier, Air-India, too, had suspended both its Toronto and Vancouver operations some years ago. Before Air Canada arrived the Canadian airline used to run flights to India.

At present, there are is neither any Canadian nor Indian carrier operating on the Delhi-Toronto or Delhi-Vancouver sector.

The visiting Canada 3000 top executives met senior officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airport Authority of India, the Director-General of Civil Aviation and others concerned.

“When they come next time, they will be finalising other modalities, including their marketing agents and ground handling and other operations connected with their to and fro flights, “ Mr Sutherland said.

Dalai Lama’s kin visits China
From Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, Dec 4 — The significant meeting between a brother of the Dalai Lama and Chinese officials in Beijing recently has opened the channel of communication between the spiritual leader and the Communist regime, as the exiled government eagerly awaits a response from China for sending its delegation for an early solution of the Tibet issue.

Talking to mediapersons at a press meet on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s assumption of state responsibility, the Tibetan spiritual leader said that though it was a good opportunity to open dialogue with China, it was too early to say whether it was the beginning of the “unfreezing” of relations with China.

“It is a different matter whether the talks progress or not, but it is essential that ideas are exchanged as the incorrect impression being created in each other’s mind prove to be major obstacles in finding an early solution to the Tibetan problem”, he opined. He disclosed that after receiving some indications from China, his brother visited Beijing to hold talks with the officials.

The Tibetan leader refused to divulge the details of the message brought back by his brother, saying that it was not wise to discuss the issue in public. “We have sent a request to China to allow a delegation from here to visit Beijing, as I strongly feel that sending personal messages in the form of letters or memos, is a better way, to tackle the situation”, he revealed. He hastened to add that if some concrete results came out of the talks, they would be before the world.

The Dalai Lama, said that it was essential to explain to China the viewpoint of the Tibetan Government-in-exile, since his stand of the “middle path way” still remained.

Great significance is being attached to the visit of Dalai Lama’s brother to China as official contact with China, through its embassy, was completely snapped in August, 1993. “Though some informal channels had been developed after the visit of the American President, Bill Clinton, since November, 1998, relations had once again freezed,” he disclosed.

When asked about the reasons for the cancellation of his trip to Taiwan, he said that after the visit of his brother to China, he felt that this was a very crucial and sensitive stage, so he decided to visit Taiwan at some later stage.”

The Dalai Lama said that though China had emerged as a powerful country, to gain moral authority, it needed to improve its human rights record, religious repression and its policy regarding Tibet and some minorities.”

Talking about the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorjee, he said that even 11 months after his arrival in India, a decision had not been taken on his status. “Since he is the reincarnation of the 16th Karmapa, logically he should be allowed to go to the Kagyu seat at the Rumpek Monastery in Sikkim,” he said. He said that apart from sending a formal request to the Indian Government, he had met people in the Delhi, to decide the status of the Karmapa.

The Dalai Lama said that he had made up his mind that he would not play any role in the future government of Tibet and even the institution of the Dalai Lama would end.