India not learning from past mistakes: security experts

Former Chief of Research and Analysis Wing B Raman said there was delay in commencing operations by NSG in Mumbai which were akin to what had happened during the Kandahar hijacking.

The lapses in handling the Mumbai terror attacks were similar to those of Kandahar plane hijacking and previous terror attacks but India has not learnt lessons for its previous mistakes in handling a crisis situation, security experts said here today.

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Former Chief of Research and Analysis Wing B Raman said there was delay in commencing operations by NSG in Mumbai which were akin to what had happened during the Kandahar hijacking.

"They (NSG) did not have the aircraft so they reached Mumbai late. The same thing happened in Kandahar where the response was also very late", he said participating in a seminaro on terrorism and security.

"The commando operations offer best results if taken within two hours of any seize operations NSG has the capability to move a contingent of commandos in minutes. Why that did not happen, I do not know," former Director General of NSG Ved Prakash Marwah said.

Besides delay, lack of coordination between various agencies was also glaring during the 60-hour anti-terror operation in Mumbai, according to experts.

"In Mumbai, nobody knew who is coordinating. There should be someone who should play the leadership role. Either in Mumbai or in Delhi. The person who gives orders to the Navy, Army, NSG, Police. That kind of leadership role was not there," Raman said.

Raman said such things were not happening for the first time. "Every time they are happeing, we are taken by surprise. But we did not have any inquiry. Whatever our mistakes were, we are not correcting them," said he.