KirenRijiju,Union Minister of State for Home Affairs of India, today inaugurated the Pasighat advanced landing ground (ALG)in Arunachal Pradesh, where an Indian Air Force Sukhoi-30 fighter jet landed earlier in the day, making the exercise the first such military movement in the area since the 1962Indo-China war. The ALG, which lies 198 km east of Itanagar, will allow fighter air crafts like the Sukhoi-30 to land and take off, and provide a major impetus to India’s military actions along its much-disputed shared borderwith China.
This crucial move comes from the Indian government weeks after around 100 battle tanks were deployed by the country close to the shared border with China in Ladakh, to which China had an uneasy response. Officials hope that it will certainly lend the country an upper hand in its military claim over the border, by allowing large fighter aircraft to operate in times of emergency along the Chinese border.Air Marshal C Hari Kumar said about the event,“The touchdown by a frontline fighter jet of the IAF at the ALF is a historic first in Arunachal Pradesh, which has several ALGs at varying altitudes.”
The Pasighat ALG earlier used to be a maintenanceand evacuation site maintained by the Indian Air Force. It also catered as a commercial helicopter landing strip prior to its activation as an advanced landing ground. The other existing ALGs in Arunachal Pradesh are located atMechuka, Ziro, Along and Walong, which were inaugurated between the months of March and May this year. Two more are supposed to be ready by the end of 2016.
Kiren Rijiju called the day a historical one, as the inauguration of the Pasighat ALG marks the much-required commencement of developmental process in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, which was far behind all others even after seven decades of independence. The Pasighat ALG will be capable of operatingall types of aircraft as well as helicopters afterTezpur and Chabua.
