NEW DELHI : Describing Chinese incursion incident in Chumar as a ‘mystery’, Chief of Indian Air Force Arup Raha today said the Defence establishment was trying to decipher why the China’s People’s Liberation Army chose to do all this when their President Xi Jinping was on a high profile visit to India. Air Chief Marshal Raha, addressing his annual press conference ahead of 82th Air Force Day, said to counter the threat from across the border IAF was on its way to augment its capability both in the western as well as on the eastern front facing china. On being asked about the recent intrusion by the Chinese troops in Chumar region of Ladakh, where armies of the two countries remain locked in tense face-off for more than 20 days, before pulling back to their respective positions, the Air Chief said, “this is a mystery for all of us to decipher. I am not going to guess what it means,” adding that “I am wondering why it was done when an important person in the Chinese hierarchy, the President was on a visit to India”.
The Air Chief said the government has accorded its approval to develop Nyoma and Kargil air fields into a full fledged air bases so that all types of aircraft can be operated from there. The government has sanctioned the proposals relating to infrastructure development in Ladakh region, he said. “New government (at the centre) means business. Every project is being reviewed regularly and the Prime Minister himself is meeting me once a month to review the progress,” Air Chief Marshal Raha said.
Talking about the initiatives being taken to enhance the capability in the North east region, the Air Chief said, “we are in process of deploying surface to air missiles and the air defence system is being augmented. Some Su-30 Mki (fighter aircraft) have been inducted in the sector in the next 5 years one or two squadrons more will be deployed there.” (AGENCIES)
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