Kathmandu. India itself has been responsible for the security arrangements of Indian aircraft flying from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal for the last 26 years. Questions are being raised regarding this in Nepal. In fact, a 'temporary' arrangement started after the Kandahar hijack (Flight IC814) in December 1999 has today taken permanent form, under which Indian security personnel conduct additional searches of passengers and their luggage on Nepali soil.

Interestingly, Nepali agencies are kept away from this entire process and no ministry of Nepal i.e. Home or Civil Aviation has any document to legitimize this foreign security deployment. This situation is now sparking a new debate regarding the sovereignty of Nepal and the diplomatic relations between the two countries. Any passenger flying on an Indian registered aircraft from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport is required to undergo an additional security check just before boarding the aircraft.

Why has India been investigating itself at Kathmandu airport for 26 years?

According to the Kathmandu Post, passengers are searched and their luggage is thoroughly examined manually at a screening point located on an elevated platform on the airport apron, where Indian security personnel are deployed. This is not a hidden thing nor is it a new thing. But after more than twenty-five years, it has now become a part of the process of boarding a plane.

An official of Nepal's Civil Aviation Authority told the Post that both Air India and IndiGo deploy Indian staff in three shifts at Tribhuvan. Of the 12 to 15 people who work for a flight, six to eight Indian employees are stationed on the apron. They wear heavy safety shoes. Passengers are sent one by one in a surrounded trolley where their bodies and hand luggage are searched by Indian staff.

He said that Nepali staff help but they are kept away from the actual search process. The official said, 'Nepali staff are not given any role in the main duty in the apron area for India bound flights.' This officer gave information about staffing and searches on the condition of anonymity.

Why are Nepalese officials kept away from security checks?

He said that no Nepalese agency can show any document which originally approved it. The Post reported that Nepali media outlet 'Kantipur' asked officials of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and Home Ministry several times if they could find the relevant records. Every time he referred to some other agency for this question. This process was started after the Kandahar plane hijacking case but Nepal never gave written consent regarding it.

The Post has written that questions have been raised from time to time regarding Nepal's sovereignty but no government has tried to review this system. The Post says India has repeatedly asked for more facilities, including permission to deploy sky marshals on its flights to and from Kathmandu. Nepali authorities have rejected or quietly postponed this demand every time.

Nepal had given this permission to India after the Kandahar incident.

According to the Post, several officials, diplomats and foreign ministers told Kantipur that Nepal never made any formal efforts or diplomatic correspondence to remove this system. Speaking to the Post, Nepal's former ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyay said he was told that India had made this proposal during the foreign minister-level visit to Nepal but it was turned down. According to him, instead Nepal had given verbal consent to allow Indian officials to conduct separate security screening. They say there needs to be a more careful look at what that agreement actually contained.