New Delhi, September 7
A plane load of ammunition destined for China has set the Indian security establishment thinking on why the cache of arms and ammunition is being flown to its neighbouring country. Does this indicate something else that has larger game plan behind it?
The CISF and the Customs Department last night detained a United Arab Emirates Airforce plane that landed in Kolkata for re-fuelling on its way to China after discovering arms and explosives on board. The plane, a US manufactured C-130 cargo plane, having a huge capacity was carrying “tonnes of ammunition” sources said.
The C-130 is among the bigger cargo planes. The military transport plane was given permission to land in Kolkata yesterday for routine refueling on its way to Hanyang, part of the city of Wuhan in China's Hubei province, from Abu Dhabi. The crew of nine was questioned by central agencies.
The security agencies have been in a tizzy over the developments. One is why did the plane not declare its cargo and why was it flying on a civilian code despite being a military aircraft. The C-130 is huge plane and it carrying ammunition means two things, either some
ammunition is being urgently flown into China or some country that has been procuring arms from China was sending back the same for servicing or returning some unused pieces.
Another theory doing the rounds is that China may have set up a secret arms and ammunition manufacturing base in some other country. Also intriguing is the fact, as to why would the UAE give its military aircraft to a third country to ferry arms to China. The UAE itself is more aligned towards the NATO block of countries and has no arms manufacturing base.
Another source said, “The Chinese would never make a mistake a land such cargo on Indian soil just for re-fuelling of the aircraft. They could have landed the same in Dhaka Bangladesh, located just a 30-minute flight away from Kolkata”. Could this be a psychological operation by the Chinese? A source shot down suggests that it was some secret cargo meant for the protestors in Xianjang province saying just that the plane originated in the middleeast does not mean the cargo was for the muslim dominated area Ughirs. A plane of this size cannot land secretly inside China.
