New Delhi: IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha said the Chinese incursions at Chumar and Demchok in Ladakh, that coincided with the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India, could be due to “signalling” by China in diplomacy. He said the timing of the incursions to coincide with the visit “was a mystery that needs to be deciphered.”
Speaking to reporters just days ahead of the Air Force Day on October 8, the IAF chief also expressed concern over delays in completion of projects and acquisitions for the IAF such as the Light Combat Aircraft, the Multi-role Medium Combat Aircraft and the joint Fifth Generation Combat Air-craft project with Russia.
The IAF is worried over certain “problems” with the frontline Sukhoi fighter aircraft but he declined to spell out what the problems were. But delays persist on other fronts too. Due to adverse weather conditions and other factors, the conversion of the crucial Nyoma advance landing ground (located just 23 km from the Line of Actual Control) in Ladakh to a full-fledged air-base could take upto five years, the IAF chief indicated.
He said acquisition of new light-utility helicopters for the Army and IAF would be a “test case for the MoD and armed forces for procurement in a time-bound fashion.” The IAF chief praised the Modi government, saying it “means business” and expressed confidence that it would expedite modernisation of the armed forces. He said that the service chiefs can meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi one-on-one every month to discuss matters of importance.
The IAF chief revealed that a few modern Mi-17 V5 helicopters would perform the VVIP transportation roles after the cancellation of the VVIP helicopter deal with Agusta this year. He said the proposed post of Permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee is envisaged to be filled by the senior-most serving service chief.
Asked about the significance of the recent Chinese border incursions in Ladakh that had led to a two week-long stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops, Air Chief Marshal Raha said, “It’s always been a mystery about the way incursions take place across the LAC, the way this gets timed with various visits... we all know that in diplomacy, a lot of signalling is done and specially so, (from) our northern neighbour.
It could be part of some signalling to my mind but I’m not going to guess what it really means... We thought we are going to make progress on these issues but this (the incursion) happened. We are also trying to find out why it happened,” he said. “There are differences in perception as to where the LAC is... This is leading to face-offs. However, our security forces are following policies... We are not giving ground to anyone.”
