Amid border tensions with India, Pak Air Force vows strict response to aggression

Islamabad: Amid heightened tension with India, Pakistan's Air Force chief on Wednesday warned that his forces will respond to any aggression by the "enemy" in a manner that their future generations will also remember it.

Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman emphatically said that Pakistan will give a befitting response to any misadventure by the enemy, Radio Pakistan reported. Talking to reporters at Qadri airbase in Skardu, he said the country should have zero concern over the "statements of the enemy." "Our response to any aggression by the enemy will be such that their future generations will also remember it," he said according to the report.

The Air Force chief made the remarks after taking part in Air Force exercises and flying a Mirage fighter jet during his visit to Skardu. He also reviewed the exercises and operational preparedness of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

His visit coincided with reports in Pakistani media that the Air Force today flew fighter jets near the Siachen Glacier the world's highest battleground. The Indian Air Force in New Delhi denied that the Pakistani fighter jets violated the Indian air space.

Tensions between India and Pakistan have run high since the attack on an Indian army base in Uri in September last year in which 18 Indian soldiers were killed by militants based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Ten days after the attack India launched "surgical strikes" there to destroy "terrorist launchpads".

More recently, the Indian Army yesterday announced that it launched "punitive fire assaults" on Pakistani positions across the Line of Control earlier this month, inflicting some damage. The action was taken in response to the beheading of two Indian soldiers in Kashmir by Pakistani special forces.

Today, the Pakistani Air force chief said the PAF was fully prepared and capable of defending the country's frontiers.