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| India Expands Its Efforts in Search for Missing Jet | India Expands Its Efforts in Search for Missing Jet |
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| NEW DELHI — Indian military forces searched hundreds of uninhabited islands in the Andaman Sea on Friday for any signs of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 as efforts to find the wreckage turned westward from the aircraft’s origin in Kuala Lumpur. | NEW DELHI — Indian military forces searched hundreds of uninhabited islands in the Andaman Sea on Friday for any signs of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 as efforts to find the wreckage turned westward from the aircraft’s origin in Kuala Lumpur. |
| India intensified its search just as Vietnam suspended its own. At least six ships, a handful of airplanes and nearly 1,000 personnel from India’s navy, coast guard and air force were involved in the search Friday. After two days of looking in the vast expanse of ocean between the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Thailand to the east and Indonesia to the south, some of India’s planes began searching an even larger area to the west of the Andamans toward Sri Lanka, according Indian military authorities. Malaysian authorities requested that the additional areas be searched, the military said. | India intensified its search just as Vietnam suspended its own. At least six ships, a handful of airplanes and nearly 1,000 personnel from India’s navy, coast guard and air force were involved in the search Friday. After two days of looking in the vast expanse of ocean between the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Thailand to the east and Indonesia to the south, some of India’s planes began searching an even larger area to the west of the Andamans toward Sri Lanka, according Indian military authorities. Malaysian authorities requested that the additional areas be searched, the military said. |
| Only 37 of the 572 islands in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are inhabited, and the rest are covered by tropical jungle. The coast guard sent two Dornier aircraft, which fly at relatively slow speeds, to pass over the islands to look for any signs of wreckage. By sundown Friday evening, none had been spotted, said Col. Harmit Singh, a military spokesman. | Only 37 of the 572 islands in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are inhabited, and the rest are covered by tropical jungle. The coast guard sent two Dornier aircraft, which fly at relatively slow speeds, to pass over the islands to look for any signs of wreckage. By sundown Friday evening, none had been spotted, said Col. Harmit Singh, a military spokesman. |
| The islands are heavily militarized and are a politically sensitive area that India has been eager to show it is able to police militarily. Colonel Singh said radar installations on the islands were not always active but were used “on a schedule.” He refused to disclose the schedule, saying it was a military secret. | The islands are heavily militarized and are a politically sensitive area that India has been eager to show it is able to police militarily. Colonel Singh said radar installations on the islands were not always active but were used “on a schedule.” He refused to disclose the schedule, saying it was a military secret. |
| Such a schedule could explain how the missing plane, a Boeing 777, could pass over or near the area without triggering an alert. | Such a schedule could explain how the missing plane, a Boeing 777, could pass over or near the area without triggering an alert. |
| India’s operation is led by the Indian Navy, which, despite a number of deadly accidents and embarrassing episodes over the past year, is widely considered the country’s most capable military branch. | India’s operation is led by the Indian Navy, which, despite a number of deadly accidents and embarrassing episodes over the past year, is widely considered the country’s most capable military branch. |
| A navy spokesman refused Friday to estimate how long the search might take. “How can you ask such a question?” said the spokesman, Capt. D. K. Sharma. “This is like looking for a needle in that vast expanse of sea.” | A navy spokesman refused Friday to estimate how long the search might take. “How can you ask such a question?” said the spokesman, Capt. D. K. Sharma. “This is like looking for a needle in that vast expanse of sea.” |
| Four naval ships were leading the search, and the coast guard also sent two ships, in addition to the Dornier aircraft. On Friday, it also deployed a search helicopter, said V. S. R. Murthy, chief of the Indian Coast Guard for the island chain. | Four naval ships were leading the search, and the coast guard also sent two ships, in addition to the Dornier aircraft. On Friday, it also deployed a search helicopter, said V. S. R. Murthy, chief of the Indian Coast Guard for the island chain. |
| “We have already covered the eastern side of the Andamans and Nicobar, so today we are searching on the western side of the Andamans,” Mr. Murthy said. “Up until now, we have not found any traces of the Malaysian plane.” | “We have already covered the eastern side of the Andamans and Nicobar, so today we are searching on the western side of the Andamans,” Mr. Murthy said. “Up until now, we have not found any traces of the Malaysian plane.” |
| The Indian Air Force contributed to the search with a recently-acquired Lockheed C-130J Hercules aircraft and an anti-submarine Boeing P-8 Poseidon. | The Indian Air Force contributed to the search with a recently-acquired Lockheed C-130J Hercules aircraft and an anti-submarine Boeing P-8 Poseidon. |
| China’s increasingly assertive naval presence in the South China Sea has unnerved New Delhi, and Indian naval forces are particularly eager to demonstrate their capabilities in the Andaman Sea, a critical maritime lane between the Far East and the Middle East. | China’s increasingly assertive naval presence in the South China Sea has unnerved New Delhi, and Indian naval forces are particularly eager to demonstrate their capabilities in the Andaman Sea, a critical maritime lane between the Far East and the Middle East. |
| Five Indians were among the 227 passengers missing from Flight 370, including Vinod and Chetana Kolekar, who were traveling with their 23-year-old son, Swanand Kolekar, to visit their elder son, who is doing postdoctoral research in Beijing. | Five Indians were among the 227 passengers missing from Flight 370, including Vinod and Chetana Kolekar, who were traveling with their 23-year-old son, Swanand Kolekar, to visit their elder son, who is doing postdoctoral research in Beijing. |
| Another passenger, Chandrika Sharma, 51, executive secretary of the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers, a Chennai-based nonprofit organization, was on her way to a conference in Mongolia. Her husband, K. S. Narendran, has criticized what he termed a “languid” response by the Indian government to the aircraft’s disappearance and complained in an interview that he had gotten most of his information about search efforts from the media and not the government or airline. |