New Delhi : The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Tuesday said that it will conduct an exercise in the Eastern Sector of the country on December 15 and 16.
As per sources, this will be a command level exercise planned by the eastern command to test the capabilities of IAF on the China front.
Fighter jets, transport aircraft, helicopters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) will participate in the exercise.
Air bases in Assam’s Tezpur, Chhabua, Jorhat and West Bengal’s Hashimara are likely to be activated in the exercise. Hasimara air base is home to the Rafale fighter jets.
The development comes a day after the Indian Army said troops from two sides clashed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Tawang sector on December 9 and the face-off led to “minor injuries to a few personnel from both sides”.
However, the Indian Air Force has said that the command level exercise in the eastern sector is a routine exercise and planned in advance. “It has nothing to do with the recent clash in Arunachal Pradesh,” it said.
The skirmish in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawan was the first major clash between the Indian and the Chinese armies since August 2020 near Rinchen La in eastern Ladakh.