India Irked At Ex-President Abdul Kalam Being Frisked At US Airport

  

NEW DELHI (NNN-KUNA) -- India has taken a strong exception at its former-President APJ Abdul Kalam being frisked by US security authorities at the JFK Airport on September 29.

This is being seen as an act that violates a well-laid protocol followed by almost every other country.

According to a Press Trust of India (PTI) report, the US security personnel patted Kalam down before he was allowed aboard an Air India flight from the US airport.

They then tried to frisk him again once he was seated saying they had forgotten to check his jacket and shoes for explosives, added the report.

This was the second time when Kalam was frisked by US authorities.

Earlier, in April 2009 too, Kalam was frisked by officials of US "Continental Airlines" despite the fact that his name featured in the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security's list of people exempt from security checks in India.

As per the US law, only current cabinet ministers are exempt from security screening.

Reacting sharply to the incident, India's External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna has reportedly asked the country's ambassador Nirupama Rao to take up the matter with the US authorities and convey that the issue would be reciprocated by India if Washington doesn't apologise for the incident.

Krishna also termed the incident as "unacceptable". -- NNN-KUNA