India ups ante, signals to China it is ready for escalation

New Delhi, June 20: New Delhi has signalled that it is ready for escalation in the ongoing confrontation with China on the unresolved border.

India moved its fighter jets to the forward airbases facing China. This comes in the wake of Indian Air Force Chief R K S Bhaduria paying a visit to Leh and Srinagar airbases. These airbases are crucial for any operations to be carried out by the forces in Eastern Ladakh.

In the first leg of his visit, he was in Leh on June 17 and the following day the Air Chief visited Srinagar. Both bases are closet to Eastern Ladakh area and are most suited to carry out any fighter aircraft operations in the terrain. Also, India has a clear edge over the Chinese here, ANI reported.

On the other hand, the Air Force also moved its critical frontline assets including the Sukhoi 20 MKI, Mirage 2000 and Jaguar fighter aircraft fleet to the advanced positions where there can fly at a very short notice.

Further, the Chinooks helicopters have been deployed in and around the Leh airbase to provide the capability of rapid troops transportation and inter-valley troop transfer, in case any situation emerges. The American Apache attack choppers have also been deployed close to the areas where operations by ground troops are taking place at the moment.

Meanwhile, a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry said that the Indian side promised on June 6 that they would not cross the estuary of the Galwan river to patrol and build facilities. The two sides would discuss and decide phased withdrawal of troops through the meetings between the commanders on the ground, the foreign ministry also said.

Shockingly, on the evening of June 15, India's front-line troops, in violation of the agreement reached at the commander-level meeting, once again crossed the Line of Actual Control for deliberate provocation when the situation in the Galwan Valley was already easing, and even violently attacked the Chinese officers and soldiers who went there for negotiation, thus triggering fierce physical conflicts and causing casualties.

The adventurous acts of the Indian army have seriously undermined the stability of the border areas, threatened the lives of Chinese personnel, violated the agreements reached between the two countries on the border issue, and breached the basic norms governing international relations, China also said.