India, China discuss air space violations

India and China held a special round of military talks at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point in Eastern Ladakh to discuss air space violations and provocations by the Chinese side in that area in the last 45 days.

The talks were held after the Indian Air Force sternly countered the Chinese attempts to provoke in the Eastern Ladakh sector by violating air space and the confidence-building measure lines which mandate that both sides should fly fighter planes within 10 Kms of the LAC.

"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," government sources said.

The talks have also come at a time when the Chinese are having tense relations with multiple countries including the US over a high-profile American visit to Taiwan and its firing of ballistic missiles in the Japanese Exclusive Economic Zone.

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

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.

(ANI)