'China, India maintaining perceived line of actual control in Arunachal'

Guwahati: Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa said on Thursday broadly, there has been no violation of Indian airspace by China, barring one to two incidents due to navigational problems, in Arunachal Pradesh with both sides maintaining the perceived line of actual control.

He also said the Air Force's fields were developed to improve air connectivity in the Northeast and civil operators were welcome to operate flights. "We have confidence building measures (CBM) on both sides. Our fighter aircraft don't come less than 10 or 12 km from the perceived line of actual control. But in the broad picture, the CBMs are being maintained and both sides did not violate each other's airspace," the IAF chief told a press conference here.

Dhanoa was replying to a question on if there was any violation of Indian airspace in the state recently by China.

He, however, admitted that there might have been one or two violations due to navigational problems.

"On both sides, even during the Doklam crisis and subsequent huge exercise Gagan Shakti there was no violation of peace time profile. The CBMs are in place and both sides respect this confidence building measure," the IAF chief said. Chinese and Indian troops in July last year faced off on the disputed Doklam plateau between Bhutan and China after the Chinese PLA began building roads through the area. Held in April, Gagan Shakti was the biggest exercise by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in three decades in which over 11,000 sorties were carried out by combat, transport and rotary wing aircraft of the force to test its combat readiness.