KOLKATA, 9 August 2007 — India will embark on a major effort soon to boost air power on the eastern front, a top military commander said yesterday, adding new fighter jets among others, in an apparent move to guard against China.
The plans include moving two squadrons or 36 state-of-the-art Russian-built Sukhoi-30 aircraft to an air base in the east, adding advanced helicopters, strengthening runways and upgrading other air force facilities.
“The perception of east India has changed and our defenses are at their peak to thwart any misadventure now, especially after what happened in 1962,” Air Marshal P.K. Barbora told Reuters, referring to India’s border war with China.
But apparently sensitive to the recent warmth in ties between the Asian giants, Barbora added that “we are not saying we are beefing up in the east to counter China.”
“Rather, we are sending a strong message to everyone that we are ready for any misadventure from all corners,” the head of India’s Eastern Air Command said in an interview from his base in the northeastern town of Shillong.
The world’s two most populous nations fought a brief but brutal war over their 3,500-km Himalayan border in 1962, and both sides claim the other is occupying big but largely uninhabited chunks of their territory.
Although they have signed a treaty to maintain “peace and tranquility” along the disputed frontier and agreed to find a political solution to the row, talks have hardly made progress even as their business ties boom.
India blames the lack of progress on China’s claim over the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, in particular over its Buddhist enclave of Tawang. New Delhi says it cannot part with populated areas to settle the border dispute.
Traditionally, India’s military might has been largely focused on countering the threat from neigboring Pakistan on the western front as the two countries have gone to war three times in the last 60 years and have come close to fighting a few more.
But with an India-Pakistan cease-fire holding since 2003, and New Delhi on a spree to modernize its largely Soviet-era military, attention is now being turned to plug the weak links in the east, defense analysts say.
Besides deploying Sukhois at the northeastern air base of Tezpur later this year, the Indian Air Force would also add new combat helicopters and station some of the 126 fighter jets it is due to float bids to buy, in the east, Barbora said.
The length of the runway at the base in Kalaikunda in West Bengal state would be increased, the air marshal said, adding that India had several “advanced landing ground” strips in mountainous Arunachal Pradesh and they were in good shape.
“In terms of numbers, we cannot match China as their economy is growing rapidly than ours,” Barbora said.
“But if we talk about specifics in the northeast, we have a deterrent force available and will be well-prepared to cater to any misadventure with the force-multipliers in place.”
“Tension will remain with China on the issue of the boundary,” he said.
“But we do not expect a conflict, only minor pinpricks.”
