According to ANI, the IAF mobilizations happened before the clashes between India and China troops last week in Arunachal.
Indian and Chinese troops clashed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh on December 9 and the face-off resulted in “minor injuries to a few personnel from both sides”, the Indian Army said.
The clash near Yangtse along the LAC in the sensitive sector took place last Friday amid the over 30-month border standoff between the two sides in eastern Ladakh.
“In the last few weeks, there have been two to three occasions where our fighter jets had to be scrambled to tackle the Chinese drones moving towards our positions on the LAC. The Su-30MKI jets had to be scrambled to tackle the air violation threat,” defence sources told ANI.
The Indian Air Force has a strong presence in the northeast with squadrons of Su-30 fighter jets deployed at multiple locations including Tezpur and Chhabua in Assam. The Rafale combat jets have also been deployed very close at Hashimara in West Bengal.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh holds high-level meet
Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday held a high-level meeting with Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan and service chiefs, a day after the emergence of the report of clash between troops from India and China along the LAC.
The defence minister received updates on the recent clash between troops of both sides in Tawang, defence sources said.
According to reports, external affairs minister S Jaishankar, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Anil Chauhan, all three service chiefs are present at the meeting.
Congress seeks statement from PM Modi
Several Congress MPs have demanded a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the situation at the border. The Congress MPs have given adjournment notices in both houses of Parliament to discuss the border situation with China.
While Manish Tewari has given a notice in the lower house, Congress leaders Randeep Surjewala and Syed Nasir Hussain have given similar adjournment notices in the upper house.
(With inputs from agencies)
