Govt trying ‘every means imaginable’ to find missing IAF aircraft, says Manohar Parrikar

On Friday, replying to questions by Members of Rajya Sabha, Parrikar had ruled out the possibility of sabotage in the incident. (Source: PTI)

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday said that the government was trying “every means imaginable” to locate the missing Air Force plane AN-32. The aircraft had gone missing on July 22 while on it’s way to Port Blair from Chennai. The twin engine plane has 29 people on board.

“We are doing whatever is possible to find the plane. Every imaginable means that can be used is being used. We are using our own resources and have approached other countries including USA for their help. We have checked the satellite images from our own satellites which didn’t prove of much help due to cloudy weather. We have requested images of Synthetic Aperture Satellite from America which may give us some clarity as to what happened to the plane,” Parrikar told reporters at the sidelines of a Defence event in Pune.

On Friday, replying to questions by Members of Rajya Sabha, Parrikar had ruled out the possibility of sabotage in the incident. He gave the house details of the search and rescue operations being carried out for the last one week in the area, which include a submarine and other specialist ships.

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In Pune, Parrikar reiterated that Army had no active role to play in handling the volatile situation in Kashmir valley.

“It’s for the Home Minister to decide. Our job (Army) is to deal with insurgency. Apart from that whenever civil administration calls us for help, we comply. We don’t deal with it directly,” said Parrikar.