India, China held military talks to discuss air space violations, provocations by Chinese Air Force

New Delhi, Aug 05: India and China held a special round of military talks on Tuesday amid the ongoing standoff along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.

The meeting was held to discuss air space violations and provocations by the Chinese side in that area in the last 45 days, sources informed news agency ANI.

The talks between the two sides included Air Force officers from both sides along with Army representatives. "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," ANI quoted government sources as saying.

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 report added.

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

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.

The Chinese activities opposite the Chumar sector continued for over a month and the Indian Air Force responded strongly by scrambling its fighter aircraft including the Mirage 2000 and MiG-29s from its advance bases near the Ladakh region.

The sources said the Chinese had not expected such a strong reaction from the IAF which was ready for taking on any possible misadventure from the PLAAF side.

During this time, IAF was also taking precautions to ensure that there was no escalation of the matters on the ground along with keeping a close watch on their air activities, they said.

The Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a tense border standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 5, 2020, when a violent clash between the two sides erupted in the Pangong lake area. China has also been building bridges and constructing other infrastructure such as roads and residential units in the border areas with India.

India and China have held 16 rounds of military talks so far to resolve the Ladakh standoff. As a result of the talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process last year on the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area.

However, each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the LAC in the sensitive sector. India has been consistently maintaining that peace and tranquillity along the LAC were key for the overall development of the bilateral ties.