Speaking on the occasion of the 87th birth anniversary of the IAF, Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria referred to the Pulwama attack saying that it is a stark reminder of the persistent threat to defence installations.
Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria (Photo: Twitter | @IAF_MCC)
Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria on Tuesday referred to the February 14 Pulwama attack saying that it is a stark reminder of the persistent threat to defence installations and that they need to be alert at all times.
Speaking on the occasion of the 87th birth anniversary of the Indian Air Force (IAF), Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria said that the present security environment in the neighbourhood is a serious cause of concern.
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The IAF chief further said that there has been a “major shift in Government’s way of handling terrorist attacks”.
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The strategic relevance of the Balakot airstrike is the resolve of political leadership to punish perpetrators of terrorism, he said at Hindon Air Force Station near Delhi.
Bhadauria had on Friday said the IAF was ready to respond to any terror strike from Pakistan as per the Government’s decision on it.
Speaking at the annual Air Force Day press conference, Bhadauria said that the IAF has achieved many important milestones in the last one year including the 26 February airstrikes in which terror camps in Pakistan’s Balakot were successfully targeted.
Soon after taking over as the 26th Air Chief Marshal of the Indian Air Force, Bhadauria had said that India is ready to deal with any kind of external threat.
Asked if India was ready to deliver another blow to terror launch pads in Pakistan like the Balakot airstrike earlier this year, Bhadauria told a private news channel: “We were prepared at that point of time. We are ever more prepared now. We are fully capable of meeting any challenge, any requirement and any mission.”
The Indian Air Force Day celebrations at the Hindon base commenced with flag-bearing sky divers of the famous Akash Ganga team dropping out of an AN-32 aircraft in their colourful canopies. The Apache attack choppers and the heavy-lift twin-rotor transport Chinook helicopter made debut in the Air Show today.
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