IAF Chief visits Leh to review Ladakh operations, fighter aircraft moved to forward bases

NEW DELHI: Even as the Indian Air Force (IAF) moved its assets including fighter aircraft to forward bases and airfields in view of the ongoing dispute with China, its chief RKS Bhadauria was on a two-day hush-hush visit to the Leh and Srinagar airbases, which would be the most critical for any operations to be carried out by the force in the Eastern Ladakharea.
The visit assumes significance as it came soon after the top security brass of the country reviewed the situation and military options after the Chinese Army killed 20 Indian soldiers in a premeditated attack in the Galwan Valley area after making an attempt to unilaterally change the status of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

“The Air Force chief was on a two-day visit where he checked the operational readiness of all the platforms that have been moved to the area in view of the Chinese aggression along the LAC in the Eastern Ladakh where more than 10,000 troops have been amassed by China,” government sources told ANI.
In the first leg of his visit, he was in Leh on June 17 and from there he went to the Srinagar airbase on June 18. Both these bases are closest to the Eastern Ladakh area and most suited to carry out any fighter aircraft operations in the mountainous terrain and also have a clear edge over the Chinese, the sources said.

TIMES OF INDIA