Buildup underway at Chinese airbase close to Arunachal Pradesh, India announces exercise
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New Delhi: An airport of China that sits just 155 km north of its border with India sees buildup, reports say.
Activities at Shigatse Peace airport, which hosts fighter jets, come after physical clash between the troops of both countries on December 9, India Today reports.
The airport that doubles as civilian airport sitting close to Arunachal Pradesh is the airbase of The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). The Line of Actual Control (LAC) runs along Tawang here.
Shigatse Peace airport can manage fighter jets, airborne early warning jets and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that can attack and carry out reconnaissance missions into neighboring territory.
China's buildup at the airport comes a day after Indian Air Force announced an "exercise" at in the Eastern Sector of the country on December 15 and 16.
The exercise could involve Fighter jets, transport aircraft, helicopters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
The IAF, however, called the command level exercise "a routine" one, planned in advance, claiming to have nothing to do with the border clash.
The first fire-up at the border in more than year saw troops of both countries engaging in a physical scuffle.
India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told the parliament Indian soldiers had "compelled the Chinese soldiers to return to their posts", meaning the Indian side sent them packing.
Rajnath Singh also accused Chinese soldiers of attempting to transgress LAC "and unilaterally change the status quo".
The scuffle between two troops for the first time in Ladakh's Galwan in 2020 proved deadly with India reporting 20 deaths, while China chose not to disclose its numbers.
However, months afterwards a reports said China lost nine times more soldiers than its official claim of four, which it deigned to reveal.