Air Chief Marshal A P Singh meets PM Modi – briefs on overall preparedness of IAF
Air Chief Marshal
A P Singh meets PM Modi – briefs on overall preparedness of IAF
On Sunday Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal A P Singh met PM Modi Sunday to brief him on the overall preparedness of the IAF in the context of retaliatory options being weighed by the government following the Pahalgam terror attack.
Though there was no official statement on the meeting, Air Chief Marshal Singh and the Prime Minister were said to have discussed the security scenario and the options on the table.
The IAF chief’s meeting at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg took place hours after Navy chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi spoke to the Prime Minister on the situation in the northern Arabian Sea.
Given the Navy’s ongoing drills in the Arabian Sea, all operational frontline warships of the Western Fleet with maritime patrol aircraft, and fleet auxiliaries are out at sea.
As per Defence sources the Navy is well-positioned to act on any possible option as soon as the executive orders are given.
Earlier there were reports that navigation warning alerts have been sent to commercial ships from India’s National Hydrographic Office.
The back-to-back conversations of the chiefs with the Prime Minister follow the meeting of the military brass at the PM’s residence on April 29 where Modi was quoted saying that the armed forces have “complete operational freedom to decide on the mode, targets and timing of our response” to the Pahalgam terror attack.
Reposing “complete faith and confidence in the professional abilities of the armed forces”, Modi said it is “our national resolve to deal a crushing blow to terrorism”.
The meeting was attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Singh and Navy chief Admiral Tripathi.
Officials said individual meetings of the service chiefs and the PM allow a free and frank exchange of inputs.
According to officials, such meetings provide space for discussion of specific targets and objectives, emergency requirements, service-specific likely challenges, and genuine timelines.
These have prompted Pakistan to place its troops on high alert along the Line of Control. Sources said there were inputs that around 30 per cent of troops of its frontline units would remain deployed at forward posts.
However, the inputs stated that the Pakistan Army had also kept detachments of heavy weapons ready, and stepped up its air defences in recent days while carrying out reinforcement of troops.
Sources said Indian troop redeployments and weapon readiness had been carried out to counter any preemptive or retaliatory measures from Pakistan across domains.
News Edit KV Raman
