NEW DELHI: United Nations’ specialised aviation agency — International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) — on Tuesday conferred the ICAO Council President Certificate on the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). DGCA chief Faiz Ahmed Kidwai received the honour in Montreal from ICAO president Salvatore Sciacchitano “in recognition of (India’s) progress in establishing an effective safety oversight system and improving the effective implementation (EI) of applicable ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs).”The ICAO Council President Certificate was established in support of the “no country left behind initiative (which is) now a strategic goal. The eligibility criteria used for this recognition are objective and transparent and are based on the results of the ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme Continuous Monitoring Approach (USOAP CMA) activities.”The DGCA had scored its highest ever EI score of 85.65% in an ICAO audit conducted in Nov 2022 — up from earlier score of 69.95% in a 2018 audit — which put India in the list of top 50 countries for the first time ever. This was a vast improvement from the 2018 audit when India was at the 102nd rank with countries like Nepal (101st spot) Pakistan (100th spot), Bangladesh (94th spot) and Sudan (89th spot) above it. At its current 48th spot after the 2022 audit, India’s EI score is above that of countries like China (49), Israel (50), Turkey (54), Denmark (55) and Poland (60).The improved safety ranking will make it easier for Indian carriers to expand their wings abroad. Tata Group’s Air India and IndiGo have massive expansion plans. Airlines of countries with dubious aviation safety records find their aircraft being subjected to more surprise checks at airports abroad.