IAF says geared up for contingency, Army moves more troops to Ladakh
Hyderabad/ New Delhi: The Air Force has analysed the scenario and is fully aware of the situation at the Line of Actual Control and is determined, well prepared to respond to any contingency, IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria said here on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Army has ordered movement of more troops and machinery to Ladakh.
Addressing a combined graduation parade at the Air Force Academy in Dundigal near here, he said the air force will never let the supreme sacrifice made by our brave soldiers at Galwan in Ladakh go in vain.
In the backdrop of the biggest confrontation with China in over five decades in the Galwan valley on June 15 in which 20 soldiers including a colonel were martryed, the IAF chief said the air force is well prepared to handle any contingency that may arise.
“It should be very clear that we are well prepared and suitably deployed to respond to any contingency. I assure the nation that we are determined to deliver and will never let the sacrifice of our braves of Galwan go in vain.”
Speaking to reporters later, he said: “We are aware of the full situation. Be at LAC, be it deployments beyond LAC.
All the air deployments, their postures, the kind of deployments.
“We have full analysis and we have taken necessary action that we need to take to handle any contingency that may arise with this kind of deployment. All actions have been taken.”
The IAF air bases across the country have taken necessary actions that are required to be taken to handle the situation.
“We know what their (Chinese) fields are. We know what their air fields are, where they are deployed, what are the operational bases,” he said on Chinese air bases.
In spite of unacceptable Chinese actions after agreements reached during military talks and resultant loss of lives, all efforts were being made to ensure that the current situation at the LAC was resolved peacefully, Bhadauria said.
“You are aware of the talks that are happening at the military level,..but we are prepared for any contingency,” he said when asked if India is at war with China.
Though, every year China made deployment and conducted exercises at the controversial area, this time round, there was an increase in activity and some changes have taken place which were monitored, he said.
“The security scenario in our region mandates that our armed forces remain prepared and vigilant at all times. The development at LAC is a small snapshot of what we are required to handle at short notice.”
The gallant actions of our soldiers who lost their lives during the confrontation with the Chinese forces has demonstrated the resolve to protect the sovereignty of our country at any cost, he asserted.
Meanwhile, large scale movement on troops to Ladakh has been ordered by the Army from other parts of the country after the clash at Galwan between Indian and Chinese troops.
While the build-up of forces had already taken place to a considerable extent after the Chinese forces had gathered in strength along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and in certain areas across it, the Galwan clash has led to a fresh strategic assessment.
Highly placed sources said that a formation from Uttar Pradesh has been ordered to move to Ladakh post-haste Thursday night. Similar movements have also been ordered from other areas too.
The highway to Leh via Manali was today full of Army convoys heading towards Ladakh. These convoys included several dozen vehicles towing artillery guns. Sources say the M-777 light howitzers which were recently inducted into the Army have also been stationed at forward locations in Ladakh.
The Army has already pushed ahead several brigades and engineer regiments into Ladakh from peace time locations in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. By one estimates there are already two divisions worth of troops deployed in eastern Ladakh by now and more would follow.
While the Army has been ramping up its deployment, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has also stationed its fighter aircraft at forward locations in Punjab and Haryana. The newly inducted Apache attack helicopters too have been moved to Leh.
These helicopters have the capability to operate at very high altitudes and have excellent surveillance capabilities too.
In a related move along the Chinese border in Himachal Pradesh, additional troops have been rushed to Sumdo and Kaurik areas of the state which are on border. These areas have seen intrusions by Chinese helicopters in April. (with PTI inputs)
KV Network
