In a 2003 interview with Shekhar Gupta, the late Brajesh Mishra, former national security adviser, reflects on how the week of IC 814 hijack & negotiations in December 1999 unfolded.
There's no evidence in existing declassified CIA documents to suggest if pressure was mounted on Islamabad to terminate hijacking plot or if New Delhi was given any specific warning.
As many as 50 Indian diplomatic staff came back late Saturday night on evacuation flights. Taliban have overrun vast swathes of Afghanistan as US pulls out.
After listening to people’s views for years, I now wish to ask my grandfather Jaswant Singh about his personal experience of the Kandahar hijack episode.
In tactical terms, the shirtless protest was worse than a self-goal. Suddenly, the fiascos of the AI Summit were forgotten, and the Youth Congress’s disruption became the issue.
IAF is fine with accepting the aircraft with 'must-haves', even if some other steps remain pending, which may take at least another year, it is learnt.
The logic of a senior minister being present to deal with any last minute glitch is sound.