Air force to hold war games along international border with Pakistan
New Delhi
The Indian Air Force will hold large-scale military drills, or war games, in Rajasthan - along the international border with Pakistan - a NOTAM, or Notice to Airmen, issued on Tuesday evening said.
The drills will begin at 9 pm Wednesday and end six hours later, at 3 am Thursday, during which time flights departing or landing at airport close to the border will be suspended. The games have been seen as India flexing its military muscles amid tension with Pakistan over last month's Pahalgam attack.
The war games will also take place as states conduct 'civil defence' drills - to ensure effective civilian response in case of hostile military action - across India. Civil defence preps of this kind have not been seen since the 1971 war with Pak and will take place at nearly 300 locations, including Delhi.
A 'civil defence' district refers to a geographical area having an armed forces facility or significant economic or public infrastructure, such as an oil refinery or a nuclear plant.
Hours earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval - for the second time in as many days - as speculation continues over Delhi's military response.
The PM has held multiple meetings with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Mr Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, and the Army, Navy, and Air Force chief since the attack.
Last week, at one such meeting, PM Modi reportedly gave the military 'complete freedom' to plan and execute an armed response to the Pahalgam terror incident.
Pak, India Test Fire Missiles
On Monday Pak said it had successfully test-fired Fatah - a homemade surface-to-surface missile with a range of up to 120 km. The test, Pak media said, was "aimed at validating the design and performance features" and was part of a larger military drill called Exercise INDUS.
The name of Pakistan's war games was an unsubtle hint; Islamabad had reacted angrily to Delhi suspending the IWT and cutting water supply to Pakistani farms, calling it "an act of war". The Fatah test-firing was the second in 48 hours by Pakistan.
India, meanwhile, has test-fired an indigenously developed underwater mine with advanced capabilities, including sensors that can detect acoustic, magnetic, and pressure signatures produced by ships.
