A Chinese Air Force aircraft flew very close to Indian troop positions at one of the “friction points” along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh in the last week of June, which triggered an immediate response from the IAF as per the standard operating procedures.
The incident took place at around 4 am on one of the days in the last week of June and after the aircraft was spotted by men on ground and was also picked up by indigenous radars deployed in the border area, according to sources quoted by news agency ANI.
Soon after the possible air space violation was detected, the assets of the Indian Air Force got activated as per the standard operating procedures, they added.
While the incident is not being considered “very serious or alarming”, it was raised with China, as per established norms, because it could have led to an escalation amidst the continuing over two-year-long military confrontation between the two countries.
The aircraft came very close to the areas on the LAC which have seen confrontation between the Indian and Chinese sides during the ongoing military stand-off between the two sides since May 2020, sources said.
The incident also came at a time when the Chinese side is holding exercises involving its fighter jets and air defence weaponry including the S-400 air defence system in the areas bordering the Eastern Ladakh sector.
The Indian Army and Air Force have strengthened their positions heavily since then and the entire Ladakh sector has been fortified to an extent where adversaries cannot even think of unilaterally altering the status quo on the LAC, sources told ANI.
Even though the Chinese have been doing infrastructure development in the areas illegally occupied by them opposite the Ladakh sector, India has taken measures to build facilities for large-scale deployments at short notice.
The infrastructure including roads in Ladakh has been developed in a major way to make it easier for troops to reach the frontline in short let timeframes than before.
