India is constantly monitoring the situation at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the armed forces are ready to meet any challenge, IAF Chief RKS Bhadauria said on Saturday. He also said all the 36 Rafale fighter jets will be inducted into the IAF by 2022.
Reiterating the country’s stand on resolving the issues through dialogue with China regarding the stand-offs at the LAC in Eastern Ladakh, he said the first attempt is to carry out disengagement at the “balance friction points.”
He was obviously referring to ongoing face-offs for the last one year at the Hot Springs, Gogra and the Depsang valley in Eastern Ladakh. These friction points erupted after the first stand-off in the first week of May last year at the Pangong Tso(lake) there.
India and China have so far held 11 rounds of military level and seven rounds of diplomatic level talks since May last year to resolve the dispute at the LAC. The armies of China and India had disengaged from the southern and northern banks of the Pangong lake in February.
The Air Force chief said talks are on between the two sides and the first attempt is to continue with the parleys and carry out the disengagement at the “balance friction points.”
“The first attempt is to continue with the talks and do the disengagement at the balance friction points. And, of course, follow it up with de-escalation,” he said.
“However, in parallel, the ground realities are being monitored closely. Whatever is the reality across, in terms of current leftover locations, deployments, any changes, that is being monitored closely and whatever actions are required on our part, we are taking,” Bhadauria said. He made these observations after reviewing the Combined Graduation Parade (CGP) at the Air Force Academy, Dundigal, Hyderabad.
As regards the ongoing induction of the Rafale fighter jets into service, he said the process will be completed by 2022. At present, 14 jets have arrived at the Ambala airbase.
“The target is 2022. It is absolutely on target. I mentioned earlier. Except for one or two aircraft, minor delays because of COVID related issues, but, in fact, some deliveries have been ahead of time. So, broadly, we are absolutely on target on the Rafale induction plan,” he said.
In 2016, India had signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 Rafale jets at a cost `59,000 crore. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had in February said the country would have the entire fleet of the fighter aircraft by April 2022.
Addressing the cadets, the IAF chief referred to unprecedented and rapidly evolving security challenges and reminded the young officers that they were entering the IAF at a juncture when a rapid infusion of technologies and combat capabilities was driving a monumental transformation in the Air Force.
He also highlighted the change in operational methodologies and functioning with development and operationalisation of major automation and networking projects. He exhorted them to hit the ground running and prove their mettle once they reach the field in order to exploit the state of art aircraft, weapons, sensors and technologies to their fullest.