India China to set up a hotline between Air Forces to prevent escalation at LAC

New Delhi, Aug 10: India and China are likely to set up a hotline between their Air Forces to prevent any possible escalation of the situation and to directly discuss issues between them on the border. The need for a direct hotline between the air forces was felt as the issues involving fighter aircraft can escalate very fast and can lead to a major conflict.

 

 

 

 

According to govt's statement, "The issue of having a direct hotline between the Chinese and the Indian Air Force had come up for discussion during the recent talks held in Chushul - Moldo border meeting point last week." The structure and the level at which the hotline would be set up is likely to come up for discussion in future meetings between the two countries at the military level.

 

 

 

 

 

The discussions in this regard are happening in the backdrop of the recent Chinese Air Force activities in the Eastern Ladakh sector where they were frequently violating the 10 Km Confidence Building Measure line and on one occasion, clearly crossing over while taking a turn on Jun 25. The Chinese were taken aback by the Indian response to their activities.

 

During the talks, the Indian side asked them to avoid such activities while the Chinese complained that the Indian Air Force was doing extensive flying on its side of the border, the sources said. The Mirage 2000 aircraft from a nearby airbase in Jammu and Kashmir had carried out extensive flying inside own territory and surprised the Chinese Air Force aircraft by reaching the areas of possible intrusion much faster than they had expected in terms of response time. The military talks held last Tuesday (Aug 2) also had Indian Air Force and Chinese Air Force elements for the first time since the beginning of the friction between the two sides in Apr - May 2020.