IAF to carry out two-day exercise in N-E from today

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force will carry out a two-day exercise in the Northeast involving almost all its frontline fighter jets and other assets deployed in the region amid the fresh tensions between Indian and Chinese troops in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh following the last week's face-off in the area.

Sources said the exercise is aimed at checking the IAF's overall combat capability and military preparedness in the region.

They, however, said the exercise was planned much before the face-off between the Indian and Chinese armies and it is not related to the incident.

The sources said IAF's frontline fighter jets including Sukhoi-30MKIs and Rafale jets will be part of the exercise besides several other platforms deployed in the region.

All frontline air bases and some key Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) in the Northeast are set to be involved in the exercise, said a source.

The sources said the top brass of the Eastern Air Command will also undertake a comprehensive review of the IAF's preparedness in the region in view of the overall security matrix.

The Army and IAF have been maintaining a high state of operational readiness along the Line of Actual Control with China in the Arunachal Pradesh and the Sikkim sector for over two years following the eastern Ladakh row.

The IAF scrambled fighter jets last week following China's increasing air activities on its side of the LAC in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh.

The deployment of some aerial platforms including drones by China in the region preceded the Chinese attempts on December 9 to unilaterally change the status quo in the Yangtse area of the Tawang sector, sources said.