Amid Ind-China standoff, IAF to run air-defence exercise in northeast
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New Delhi: Officials informed that the Indian Air Force had decided to run the exercise "Pralay", including the major air bases in the northeast. The move is when a standoff is underway between India and neighbouring China, Asian News International reported.
The enormous air exercise is scheduled to take place in the next few days. This is happening at a time when the IAF has launched the S-400 air defence squadron in the area, which deals with any enemy aircraft or missile from a distance of up to 400 km, ANI states.
IAF officials informed that the exercise would feature its major combat assets, such as the Rafale and Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets, along with the transport and other aircraft.
Recently the IAF shifted a squadron of drones from other bases to the northeast to reinforce its monitoring of enemy activities along the Sikkim and the Siliguri Corridor sector.
Meanwhile, China is also increasing activities along the Doklam area, and the same has been closely watched by the Indian defence, officials said.
'Pralay' is the second command-level exercise carried out by the Air Force in the past few months.
The IAF's Eastern Command in Shillong has vast airspace to watch the borders shared with China. It frequently takes its fighters to air the moment the Chines try to fly too close to the LAC or make a move towards the wrong direction, ANI reported.