On Thursday, April 15, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the Indian Air Force (IAF) for its response to China for the “sudden developments in Eastern Ladakh” and also appreciated its focus on “reorienting for the future”.
Rajnath Singh also advised Commanders to draw up long-term plans and strategies for capability enhancement to counter future threats.
Rajnath Singh also expressed happiness that the conference coincides with the birth anniversary of the Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh, DFC.
Referring to changing international geopolitics, Singh observed that the perceptible shift of focus from trans-Atlantic to trans-Pacific has become more obvious in the recent past. “Changing dimensions of war would now include advanced technologies, asymmetric capabilities and info-dominance, and it was very important that the IAF’s preparations for the future must include these aspects.”
The Defence Minister also stressed on the need to promote ‘atmanirbharta’ in Defence infrastructure, adding that the IAF’s order for LCA would result in a substantial boost to the domestic defense industry and will be a game-changer from the indigenisation perspective.
As the situation deteriorated in eastern Ladakh following a fierce clash between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan valley in June last year, the Indian Air Force deployed almost all its frontline fighter jets like Sukhoi 30 MKI, Jaguar and Mirage 2000 aircraft in the key frontier air bases in the region.
“The Defence minister stressed on the need to continue to work pro-actively towards the integration process currently underway, implementation of the joint logistics plan and to enhance synergy in areas of joint planning and operations,” the IAF said.
In February, the government sealed a Rs 48,000 crore deal to procure 83 Tejas aircraft from state-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. It is the biggest ever indigenous defence procurement program.
Rajnath Singh also expressed confidence that important decisions taken during the conference would enhance the combat potential of the IAF. Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhaduria PVSM AVSM ADC Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) , General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and other senior officials from MoD also attended the function.
