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Friday, May 11, 2007
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LTTE air power no threat to India: Air Chief

Diplomatic Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The air capability of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is not a threat to India, Air Chief Fali Homi Major has said in an interview.

"The LTTE has never been a threat to India. And similarly, we do not view the LTTE air capability as a threat. I would rather term it as an irritant than a threat," he said in an interview to the May issue of Force magazine.

His comments are at odds with the remarks made by the Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju on Thursday that the LTTE's air capability was a matter of concern to India.

"The Government is taking serious note of LTTE's efforts in getting air power and this is a matter of concern for us," Mr. Raju was quoted as saying by PTI news agency.

Speaking on background, Government sources told this correspondent that while the LTTE may not pose an imminent threat to India, its demonstrated air capability definitely raised question marks on what lay ahead.

In its current disposition, the LTTE, after committing the huge strategic blunder of assassinating former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991, had kept its hands off Indian targets.

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