E-Paper
After mock 26/11 in Paris, French officials at Ground Zero
The city of Paris was under a mock terrorist attack at seven places on December 21, including a five-star hotel and a railway station, reports Gigil Varghese.
The city of Paris was under a mock terrorist attack at seven places on December 21, including a five-star hotel and a railway station.
To test the security preparedness of the French capital, authorities conducted a simulation of the terror attack in Mumbai and came to the city with the lessons learnt.
“We created simulations of the Mumbai terror attack in Paris where we had mock attacks at seven places in Paris. We wanted to check our security preparedness,” said Bernadette Malgorn, general secretary of the French Ministry of Home Affairs at a press conference on Thursday.
“We checked if we had the infrastructure to protect and rescue citizens. We also checked if we had enough hospital beds and ambulances, in case such an attack took place in Paris,” said Henri Masse, a member of the delegation that reached India on Wednesday.
The delegation of French Prefects (state representatives), on its first visit to India, had meetings with the Deputy Chief minister Chaggan Bhujbal and Joint Commissioner (Crime) Rakesh Maria in Mumbai to discuss its observations.
The delegation had earlier met security experts and discussed the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack and other aspects of security and local governance issues that could help tackle and avert such attacks.
“We think the internal and external security systems should be linked,” said Malgorn.
The delegates had tracked the terror attacks on Mumbai on television. France was last attacked by terrorists in 1995 and is still vulnerable to terrorist attacks, they said.
The delegation met business representatives of private bank BNP Paribas and the Indian film industry.
“India is an emerging country with promises of economic development,” said Malgorn.
