India, China held military talks to discuss air space violations, provocations by Chinese Air Force

India

oi-Prakash KL

New
Delhi,
Aug
05:
India
and
China
held
a
special
round
of
military
talks
on
Tuesday
amid
the
ongoing
standoff
along
the
Line
of
Actual
Control
in
eastern
Ladakh.

The
meeting
was
held
to
discuss
air
space
violations
and
provocations
by
the
Chinese
side
in
that
area
in
the
last
45
days,
sources
informed
news
agency
ANI.

The
talks
between
the
two
sides
included
Air
Force
officers
from
both
sides
along
with
Army
representatives.
“During
the
military
talks,
the
Indian
side
strongly
raised
objections
over
the
Chinese
flying
activities
near
Eastern
Ladakh
sector
for
over
a
month
now
and
asked
them
to
avoid
such
provocative
activities,”
ANI
quoted
government
sources
as
saying.

On
Eastern
Ladakh
row,
India
says
need
to
scrupulously
follow
existing
agreements

The
Indian
Air
Force
was
represented
by
Air
Commodore
Amit
Sharma
from
the
Operations
branch
while
an
equivalent
rank
officer
came
from
the
People’s
Liberation
Army’s
Air
Force
side
for
the
discussions,
the
report
added.

The
Indian
Army
was
represented
by
a
Major
General-rank
officer
under
the
Fire
and
Fury
Corps
headed
by
Lt
Gen
A
Sengupta,
the
sources
said.

The
Chinese
have
been
complaining
about
the
Indian
Air
Force
upgrading
its
capability
to
detect
Chinese
Air
Force
aircraft
operating
within
the
territory
controlled
by
them
in
the
Tibet
region.

The
confrontation
between
the
two
Air
Forces
started
in
June
last
week
when
on
June
25,
a
PLAAF
J-11
fighter
aircraft
flew
very
close
to
a
friction
point
in
Eastern
Ladakh
around
4
AM
and
was
picked
up
by
both
men
on
ground
as
well
as
radars.

The
Chinese
activities
opposite
the
Chumar
sector
continued
for
over
a
month
and
the
Indian
Air
Force
responded
strongly
by
scrambling
its
fighter
aircraft
including
the
Mirage
2000
and
MiG-29s
from
its
advance
bases
near
the
Ladakh
region.

The
sources
said
the
Chinese
had
not
expected
such
a
strong
reaction
from
the
IAF
which
was
ready
for
taking
on
any
possible
misadventure
from
the
PLAAF
side.

During
this
time,
IAF
was
also
taking
precautions
to
ensure
that
there
was
no
escalation
of
the
matters
on
the
ground
along
with
keeping
a
close
watch
on
their
air
activities,
they
said.

The
Indian
and
Chinese
troops
have
been
locked
in
a
tense
border
standoff
in
eastern
Ladakh
since
May
5,
2020,
when
a
violent
clash
between
the
two
sides
erupted
in
the
Pangong
lake
area.
China
has
also
been
building
bridges
and
constructing
other
infrastructure
such
as
roads
and
residential
units
in
the
border
areas
with
India.

IAF
swings
into
action
after
Chinese
jet
flies
near
LAC
in
eastern
Ladakh
sector

India
and
China
have
held
16
rounds
of
military
talks
so
far
to
resolve
the
Ladakh
standoff.
As
a
result
of
the
talks,
the
two
sides
completed
the
disengagement
process
last
year
on
the
north
and
south
banks
of
the
Pangong
lake
and
in
the
Gogra
area.

However,
each
side
currently
has
around
50,000
to
60,000
troops
along
the
LAC
in
the
sensitive
sector.
India
has
been
consistently
maintaining
that
peace
and
tranquillity
along
the
LAC
were
key
for
the
overall
development
of
the
bilateral
ties.