India-China LAC face-off: IAF scrambled jets 2-3 times to prevent air violations by China

The Indian Air Force scrambled its fighter jets 2-3 times over the last weeks to prevent air violations by the Chinese drones along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh, reported ANI. These incidents happened before the recent clash between India and China in the Yangtse area near Tawang.

After Chinese drones moved aggressively towards Indian positions on LAC, the IAF was forced to scramble its fighter jets.

"In the last few weeks, there have been two to three occasions where our fighter jets have 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 keeps a close watch on Chinese drone activities along the LAC in the northeast. The actions have to be taken as the drones or any aircraft can not be allowed to violate the airspace, the sources said.

According to the sources, the Indian side has no issues with drones flying parallel to the Lac, but if the aircraft or drones are picked up by radars while flying towards Indian territory, necessary actions must be taken to prevent any violation, they added.

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.

The Indian Air Force has also strengthened its air defence coverage in the area with the operationalisation of the S-400 air defence system in the Assam sector only. The system can take care of any aerial threat over almost the entire area.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on recent clash
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that timely intervention by the Indian Army stopped the Chinese PLA troops from encroaching on the country's territory during the December 9 face-off at Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang sector.

"On December 9, 2022, in the Yangtse area of Tawang sector PLA troops encroached upon and attempted to change the status quo. This attempt was tackled by our troops in a determined manner. There was fist fighting during this face-off as well. Our troops bravely stopped the PLA from encroaching upon our territory and forced them to go back to their post," Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in the Lok Sabha.

The minister said that the issue had been taken up with China through diplomatic channels.

(With inputs from agencies)