Plane truths: The return to the days of cold fear

The crash of a Malaysian Airlines aircraft in the eastern Ukraine village Grabovo leaves a creepy feeling whether we are going back to the days of Cold War in patches. It is now widely believed the civilian aircraft flying on a commonly used flight path between Europe and East Asia was hit by a ground to air missile. It could not have been an ordinary missile, as the aircraft was flying at an altitude of 33,000 feet when it had an explosion. The airliner, a Boeing 777, was then carrying some 298 people on board, most of the passengers being Dutch vacationers going from Netherlands to Bali for a peaceful time on the island's golden beaches. It is reminiscent of some similar incidents in which passenger aircraft were shot down at the height of Cold War suspicions. Almost instantaneously, airlines have changed their flight routes avoiding the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine.

The tragedy is that the accident might have been an oversight. The east Ukraine rebels and the Ukraine government in Kiev are blaming each other for the shooting. If the plane had in fact been hit by some missile, those who had fired might have done it in the mistaken belief that it was a transporter of the other side. The fact is that both sides, including the rebels, have very powerful weapon systems at their disposal. The NATO is apparently saying the plane might have been hit using a Buk missile launcher which can hit targets accurately even up to an altitude of 72,000 feet. The weapons would not have ever been meant for such use; but obviously these had fallen in wrong hands. Notwithstanding that, once the exact cause of the crash of the MH airliner is established, this will have a major bearing on the diplomatic scenario in Europe and North America, strained as it is over Russian stance in Ukraine.

In fact, that is the spine chilling thought for all who have terrorist outfits in the neighbourhood. In South Asia — this is all too close to reality. We have had rather disastrous spillover from terrorist outfits across the border, not once or twice but repeatedly. The non-State actors mounting the 26/11 attack, leaving a trail of death and destruction; the sporadic city bombing incident; attack on Parliament to cite a few.

Any of these terrorist outfits getting the handle of the stockpile of weapons of mass destruction can spell havoc. We have in our neighbourhood stockpile of nuclear arsenals and any access to them for the jihadists could mean such wanton destruction. That is why we need a strong State and a well established system for the protection of such sensitive weapons systems. Admittedly, even handling such complicated weapons systems call for expertise and well qualified personnel. But then, too often the fundamentalists have succeeded in breaching protected establishments. They brainwash those in critical positions to become the rebels' front soldiers. This is no idle fear psychosis. Scenarios have been built by strategy experts and think tanks of what happens in case of such access to terrorists groups to WMDs. It calls for heightened vigil and intelligence networking.

Terrorists can queer the pitch in relations among nations, as we are witnessing, leaving consequences never thought possible ordinarily. Even individual acts of terror have had immense influence on course of history. A single gunman's shot killing Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Serajevo just over a hundred years began the World War I. It will be irresponsible for States to leave responsibilities on non-State actors after events.

The author is a Delhi-based analyst and commentator