- Thursday, May 02, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
A CHINESE Air Force jet flew very close to a friction point in eastern Ladakh sector on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at the India border in the last week of June, reports revealed. The Indian Air Force responded to the incident swiftly as per standard operating procedures, it was said.
Asian News International cited sources as saying that the incident took place at 4 am local time on a day in the last week of June and the aircraft was spotted by men on the ground and picked by indigenous radars in the border area. The assets of the Indian Air Force got activated as per the procedures soon after a possible air violation was detected.
The sources also said the incident took place at a time when the Chinese side was conducting exercises involving its fighter jets and air defence weaponry, including the S-400 air defence system in the areas bordering the eastern Ladakh sector.
The Chinese have a large number of fighter jets and unmanned aircraft deployed at positions near the Indian territory, including the major airfields in Hotan and Gar Gunsa that have been immensely upgraded in the last two years.
It was during such wargames on the Chinese side in 2020 when the People’s Liberation Army diverted its troops in heavy numbers towards the Indian positions in eastern Ladakh which led to multiple face-offs and physical fights in the area.
Sources said the matter of aircraft coming close to Indian positions was taken up with the Chinese as per the east abolished mechanism and no incident has taken place after that.
Sources clarified that the particular incident was not a very serious one but such instances should be avoided by the other side as they can lead to possible escalation.
The aircraft came very close to the areas on the LAC which have seen confrontation between the Indian and Chinese sides during the ongoing military stand-off between the two sides since May 2020, sources said.
The Indian Army and Air Force has strengthened its positions heavily since then and the entire Ladakh sector has been fortified to an extent where adversaries cannot even think of unilaterally altering the status quo on the LAC, sources said.
Even though the Chinese have been doing infrastructure development in the areas illegally occupied by them opposite the Ladakh sector, India has taken measures to build facilities for large-scale deployments at short notice.
The infrastructure including roads in Ladakh has been developed in a major way to make it easier for troops to reach the frontline in short-let timeframes than before.
The Northern Command which is in charge of the Ladakh sector in the Indian Army has been provided all possible firepower and manpower to tackle possible threats from the Chinese side.
[With ANI inputs]
