Conflict
After Chinese fighter aircraft activity, India deploys advanced air defence system in Ladakh
Surface-to-air missile defence systems moved to Eastern Ladakh sector
After Chinese fighter aircraft activity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, the Indian armed forces have deployed advanced surface-to-air missile defence systems in the Eastern Ladakh sector.
“As part of the ongoing build-up in the sector, the air defence systems of both Indian Army and the Indian Air Force have been deployed in the sector to prevent any misadventure by the Chinese Air Force fighter jets or the People’s Liberation Army choppers there,” government sources told ANI.
In the last couple of weeks, the Chinese forces have brought in heavy air superiority aircraft like the Sukhoi-30 and its strategic bombers to the rear locations which have been detected flying near the Indian territory maintaining the 10 km plus distance from the boundary.
With more military buildup in Ladakh, the situation does not look like it is going to deescalate anytime soon. The Chandigarh airbase, the Indian Air Force’s C-17 Globemaster is airlifting precious cargo to Ladakh. Its T–90 tank weighs 46 tonnes and a one-way trip will cost over Rs 10 lakh, as per News18.
This war-like build up comes as Indian and Chinese soldiers continue to be eyeball to eyeball at the Line of Actual Control at Galwan Valley, Hot Springs, Depsang Plains and Pangong Tso in Ladakh and at Naku La in North Sikkim.
Indian and Chinese troops were involved in a stalemate in Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley.
And now China has reportedly started creating trouble for Indian patrols in the Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) area between patrolling points 10 and 13 and the Demchok region in eastern Ladakh.
The armies of India and China are locked in a tense standoff in eastern Ladakh, where China has reportedly occupied 60 sq. kilometres of territory claimed by India.
A Chinese diplomat reacting to the standoff in Ladakh has said that the move is linked to the Indian government’s unilateral decision to scrap Article 370 in August last year.
The move changed the laws that prohibited Indians from buying land in Kashmir, and made the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir defunct, triggering fears of demographic change in the Muslim majority region of Kashmir.
When India scrapped Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on August 5 last year, the Chinese foreign ministry had issued two statements criticising the development, including one that focused on the splitting of the state into union territories.
This statement, while urging India to be “cautious” on the border issue and to avoid “actions that further complicate the border issue”, said: “China has always opposed India’s inclusion of Chinese territory in India’s administrative jurisdiction in the western part of the Sino-Indian border.” This was a reference to the area in Ladakh that New Delhi claims but is controlled by Beijing.
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