New Delhi (NVI) China has deployed fighter planes and missiles near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Eastern Ladakh sector, Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria said today and asserted that the IAF is ready to counter any misadventure by the Chinese side.
While addressing a webinar on ‘National Security Challenges and Air Power’ organised by Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), the IAF chief said that China has deployed heavily along LAC including radars, surface to air and surface to surface missiles.
In addition to this, The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has also deployed its J-20 and J-10 along with the Russian-origin SU-30 close to the Indian territory in Tibet. On top of that, they have also activated their air defence systems including the S-400 acquired from Russia.
To counter the growing deployment by the Chinese, the Indian Air Force has also deployed its recently inducted Rafale fighter jets and Mig-29 in the Ladakh sector at multiple bases.
Notably, the swift action by the IAF has acted as a strong deterrent against the Chinese and Pakistani air forces. To provoke India, both China and Pakistan had flown sorties in the Ladakh sector around the time a Chinese aircraft was trying to violate Indian airspace in May.
Meanwhile, the IAF chief has emphasised that the Indian side has taken all actions that are required to be taken. He added that since Chinese aspirations are global, any serious India-China conflict is not good for Beijing on the global front.
Speaking at the event, the IAF Chief said that China’s actions along India’s northern borders could also be aimed at enhancing its military technologies and recognize and fill gaps in the military structures the PLA has created over the last two decades along LAC.
The Air Chief added that no territory in the so-called ‘string of pearls’ area was out of the IAF’s reach as Sukhoi-30 fighter jets equipped with the BrahMos missile had significantly increased the reach of the force. China’s ‘string of pearls’ is Beijing’s strategic attempt to encircle India.
Amid the India-China border face-off along LAC, Beijing also remains wary of QUAD (India, China, Australia and Japan strategic partnership) and its future contours. The recently conducted naval exercises by QUAD grouping in the Indo-Pacific region has also worried China.
-ARK
