India Not To Carry Out Racial Profiling Of Air Travelers

On Tuesday India’s Civil Aviation Ministry has asserted that India would not carry out any racial profiling of air travelers. The Ministry’s comments came on the wake of implementing a pilot project aimed to receive advance information regarding passengers arriving in the country’s airports from the airlines concerned.

Zee News quotes Civil Aviation Secretary Ajay Prasad as saying, "There will be no racial or any other kind of profiling of passengers.”

Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) – a pilot project was launched in July with only Air India at the Delhi airport. The state-owned carrier asked to furnish passenger details in advance to facilitate faster clearance by immigration authorities.

"We have asked Air India to implement it (APIS). Trial runs are going on at Delhi’s IGI Airport. We will watch the progress in the next three months," Prasad said. He also added that a review would be made to see how much time has been cut short in clearing the rush of international travelers.

Under the APIS, the airline coming into India would have to provide passenger information as soon as the flight takes off from a foreign destination. This would give ample time to the immigration authorities here to study the list and be ready to clear them without wasting much time.

Though it would impose additional burden on the airlines, many governments have also been asking foreign carriers to provide such advance information. Once approved, the project would be extended to other airports in the country.