New Delhi: The Government on Tuesday decided to send more fighter planes and surveillance systems to southern India to prevent attacks by the rebels in Sri Lanka.
Intelligence agencies have warned that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) could attack India using its new air wing. An LTTE aircraft on April 29 bombed two oil installations in Colombo.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday evening chaired a meeting was briefed about the threat from the LTTE
Defence Minister A K Antony, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt, Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal F H Major and Chief of Naval Staff Sureesh Mehta attended the meeting.
The Indian government became concerned about the LTTE’s new powers when rebel aircraft bombed a military base near Colombo in March.
The meeting also decided to intensify the vigil by Naval warships deployed in the Indian Ocean, particularly using Airborne Early Warning aircraft.
The meeting took stock of the defence preparedness of the country in view of the fear, they said. The meeting came after Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said there was a possibility of LTTE carrying out airstrikes on nuclear installations in India besides shipping interests in the Indian Ocean.
"There is an air threat which has a range of 200-300 nautical miles and this range brings within it not only cities within Sri Lanka, shipping in Indian Ocean but also the nuclear installations of India," Kohona said.
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