Highlights
- Chinese forces have been trying to provoke Indian soldiers deployed in Eastern Ladakh
- Incidents of Chinese aircrafts flying close to the LAC have increased in the last three weeks
- India has also been working very hard to upgrade its military infrastructure in Ladakh
Ladakh Standoff: Chinese fighter jets still continue their attempts of flying close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) even after continuous talks were held between the Commanders of the two nations. The Chinese forces have been trying to provoke their Indian counterparts deployed in Eastern Ladakh on numerous occasions.
The Indian Air Force is responding to the situation very responsibly as they do not wish to let the matter escalate in any way. There has been an increase in the number of incidents of Chinese aircraft flying close to the LAC in the last three to four weeks. Several experts see the increased flying incidents as an attempt to probe the Indian defence mechanism in the area.
"The Chinese fighter jets including the J-11 continue to fly close to the Line of Actual Control. There have been instances of violation of the 10 Km Confidence Building Measure (CBM) line in the region in recent times," the government sources told ANI.
As a strong response to these provocations, Indian Air Force has moved its most potent fighters including the MiG-29 and Mirage 2000 to advanced bases from where they can respond to the Chinese activities within minutes.
The Indian Air Force has taken strong measures to respond to these provocations as it has moved forward its most potent fighters including the MiG-29 and Mirage 2000 to advanced bases from where they can respond to the Chinese activities within minutes, they said.
India has also been working very hard to upgrade its military infrastructure in Ladakh. This comes in view of China trying to unilaterally change the status quo on the LAC in April-May 2020 timeframe.
The provocations by Chinese fighter aircraft started around June 24-25 when a Chinese fighter aircraft flew very close to a friction point in eastern Ladakh.
After that, multiple violations of CBMs between the two sides took place along the LAC near the Chumar sector and since then it has been going on, they said.
The IAF has also been carrying out extensive flying in the Eastern Ladakh sector including its Rafale fighter jets which can reach Ladakh in a very short timeframe from their home base in Ambala near northern borders, the sources said.
The matter was also reportedly taken up for discussion during the Corps Commander talks held on July 17 at the Chushul Moldo border meeting point, the sources said.
IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari had recently told ANI in an interview that "Whenever we find that Chinese aircraft or remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) are coming a little too close to the LAC, we take appropriate measures by scrambling our fighters or putting our systems on high alert. This has deterred them to quite an extent."
(With Inputs from ANI)
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