India develops Arunachal’s airfields, but a lot left to do

On August 19, 2016, the old advanced landing ground (ALG) at Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh, revived and upgraded, was inaugurated befittingly by minister of state home affairs Kiren Rijiju, who hails from that state, accompanied by Air Marshal C. Hari Kumar AVSM VM VSM, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Air Command (EAC), Indian Air Force (IAF) and senior civil and IAF officials.

A flypast by three Sukhoi-30MKI air dominance fighters that took off from one of the forward EAC airbases was a highlight of the event. Soon afterwards, another Sukhoi-30MKI landed at the ALG, recording a “historic first” in the predominantly hilly state of Arunachal Pradesh, which has several ALGs at varying altitudes.

In 2007, when then defence minister A.K. Antony visited Arunachal Pradesh, he was aghast at noting the great contrast between substantial infrastructural development across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) by the Chinese and the starkness accentuating the lack of the same, particularly strategically, on our side. Then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who visited the state soon afterwards, announced a major financial package and a fast-track infrastructure development programme.

On approval by the Cabinet Committee for Security and following a memorandum of understanding between the government of Arunachal Pradesh and ministry of defence in June 2009, the IAF had embarked on an ambitious reconstruction plan to upgrade eight ALGs, including infrastructure development at an overall outlay of nearly `1,000 crores. The ALGs at Walong, Ziro, Along, Mechuka and Pasighat have since been upgraded and are operational now. Two ALGs at Tuting and Tawang are expected to be ready by year-end, while reconstruction of the ALG at Vijaynagar will be undertaken as soon as the road connectivity between Miao and Vijaynagar is restored.

The Pasighat airfield is now a strategic asset of EAC from where all types of aircraft and helicopters can operate. The new runway surface and other infrastructure built are similar to the other upgraded ALGs inaugurated in the recent months. Replete with facilities such as aprons for ground manoeuvring — air traffic control tower, perimeter road and a security wall — it is now a full-fledged airfield, which will facilitate operations of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters of both civil and military. As such, it will not only improve our response time for various operational situations, but also the efficacy of our air operations in the eastern frontier and will enhance air support capability for the Army, security forces and the civil administration. Airports Authority of India is in the process of setting up a civil terminal, the construction of which has yet to commence. The need of the hour is for all agencies to get together and make it happen.

For the people of Arunachal Pradesh, the Pasighat airfield will mean air connectivity with the rest of the country. Placed on the civil aviation map, Pasighat, a pristine and picturesque town on the banks of Siang river and already known as a white-water rafting location, will become a destination for large number of tourists, leading to greater prosperity for the local population.

Inaugurating the ALG at Ziro and Along earlier this year, Air Marshal Hari Kumar stated: “The ALGs will further enhance our existing operational capabilities in Eastern Air Command The capacity build-up will enable operations by some of our new inductions, including the C-130J Super Hercules Besides enhancing air maintenance capability of the IAF in the region, the new airfield will also facilitate civil air connectivity soon.”

Mechuka, 7,000 feet above sea level, is approximately 40 km from China and was one of the strategic locations during the 1962 Sino-Indian War. Since the inauguration of the upgraded ALG there on May 30, 2016, it is capable of landing large strategic lift aircraft like the C-130J.

China began upping the ante in Arunachal Pradesh much before India began its military upgrade in the eastern sector. In November 2006, just before Chinese Premier Hu Jintao’s state visit to India, Chinese ambassador to India, Sun Yuxi, stated that the whole of the state of Arunachal Pradesh is Chinese territory. In May 2007, China denied a visa to Ganesh Koyu, an Indian Administrative Service officer from Arunachal Pradesh, who was to be a part of a 107 IAS officer study to visit to Beijing and Shanghai. China pointed out that Mr Koyu is a Chinese citizen since he belongs to Arunachal Pradesh and hence could visit China without a visa. In June 2009, China tried to block India’s request for $2.9 billion loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as the request included $60 million for flood management, water supply and sanitation project in Arunachal Pradesh. This was the first time that China sought to broadcast its claim on Arunachal Pradesh in a multi-lateral forum. In October 2009, China expressed deep dissatisfaction when then PM Dr Singh visited Arunachal Pradesh as part of an election campaign for the state Assembly elections. In November 2009, China protested against the Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh.

A November 18, 2011 report in Pakistan Defence, quoted a 2010 US Department of Defence Report to Congress, indicating that China replaced its old liquid fuelled, nuclear capable CSS-3 intermediate range ballistic missile with more advanced CSS-5 MRBMs and vastly improved its border roads in the eastern sector bordering India for PLA movement. Intercontinental missiles such as the DF-31 and DF-31A have also been deployed by China at Delingha, north of Tibet. On the border with India, China has deployed 13 border defence regiments amounting to around 300,000 PLA troops. Airfields have also been established at Hoping, Pangta and Kong Ka respectively, along with the existing six airfields in the Tibetan Autonomous Region for supporting fighter aircraft and to enhance PLA’s airlift capability.

The report further stated that in October 2011, India decided to deploy the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with a flight range of 290 km in the eastern sector to strengthen its defence posture vis-à-vis China and had a five-year expansion plan to induct 90,000 more troops, where already 120,000 troops deployed, are supported by two Sukhoi-30MKI squadrons from Tezpur in Assam.

The distance of about 400 km from Tezpur to the LAC can be covered by Sukhoi-30MKI in less than 15 minutes. Yet, there is a lot more to be done.

The writer, a retired Army officer, is a defence and security analyst based in New Delhi