IAF exercises in eastern region are scheduled for Dec 15 and 16. (Image for representation)
New Delhi:
The Indian Air Force has said the Eastern Air Command would conduct an exercise to train its crew in the northeastern region but “this exercise was planned well in advance of the recent developments in Tawang and is not associated with these events”.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) had to scramble its fighter jets in the region two or three times in the past few weeks in Arunachal Pradesh.
The scramble came after detecting Chinese aircraft close to the Line of Actual Control, a contested border between the two countries, sources have said.
The IAF has also been maintaining combat air patrols in the region over the last few days to keep an eye on the movement of the Chinese air force. The force has, however, said the training exercises on Thursday and Friday in the east are not connected to the border clashes with China.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told the parliament earlier this week that Indian troops prevented Chinese soldiers from entering Indian territory on December 9 during the latest clash — using sticks and other weapons, but no guns — that led to injuries on both sides. China claims Indian troops illegally crossed the de-facto border to block a routine patrol by Chinese troops.
The latest incident in the Himalayan region of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh was the first reported clash between the two countries since the one in Galwan, a valley in Ladakh region, in 2020, when 20 Indian and at least four Chinese soldiers were killed.
The Indian government confirmed the clash only after news reports emerged four days on. It said a flag meeting was held between the commanders of both sides to calm the tension. It also refused to engage in a discussion over PM Narendra Modi’s foreign policy claims in parliament even as the Congress, the main Opposition, said the then PM Jawaharlal Nehru had encouraged such a discussion during the 1962 war.
A day after the government confirmed the clash, a video of a previous skirmish emerged too, which was shared with a false message that this was the latest Tawang clash.
In the Yangtse river region in Tawang on December 9, there was a physical fight between the two sides but Indian soldiers “compelled the Chinese soldiers to return to their posts”, pushing back in a “firm and resolute manner”, Rajnath Singh has said.
The undemarcated border between India and China runs 3488 kms in all and has 25 points of dispute. One of these is Yangtse, which has been repeatedly targeted by the Chinese.
In the two years since the Galwan clashes, after multiple meetings between military commanders, Indian and Chinese troops had pulled back from key points.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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