Air force’s training is unrelated to China clash, says India

Picture source - Reuters

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has said that it would conduct a training exercise on Thursday and Friday in India’s east that will not be related to last week’s border clashes with China in the area.

The Eastern Air Command of the IAF announced on Thursday that it will hold a training exercise for its crew.

The statement read that the drill was planned far before the current occurrences in Tawang and was not related to these events.

Indian Defence Minister had stated two days ago that on December 9 during a border skirmish that resulted in casualties on both sides Indian troops had stopped Chinese soldiers from entering Indian Territory.

China had said that Indian forces had breached a de facto boundary unlawfully in order to obstruct a normal patrol of Chinese troops.

It was the first such clash between the Asian giants since 2020 when 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed.

According to Indian media, the IAF had scrambled jets during the most recent conflict in the Chinese and Indian-claimed Himalayan area of Tawang in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.