IAF ready to assist army in Keran operations: Browne

New Delhi: Indian Air Force is ready to assist Army in its operations against heavily-fortified infiltrators in Keran sector of Kashmir, IAF boss Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne said today even as he termed the ongoing episode “small and localised”. “We are all monitoring it (the situation). It’s a very small and localised operation. They (army) have UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles).[caption id=“attachment_1153389” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne. Image courtesy PIB[/caption] “All the means are fully available with army. If they still need some assistance, we are there to provide it. There is no problem,” Browne told journalists during the annual interaction with media on Air Force Day. The Army was fully capable of dealing with the situation, the IAF chief said, while suggesting it was unlikely that IAF would be asked to get involved. “Air Force does not get into things like this (Keran operations). Air Force gets into things which are much, much bigger,” he said. He echoed Army Chief General Bikram Singh’s views that it is a localised operation where some infiltrators have been cornered in the Valley. Browne, who is also Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, agreed with security concerns over the increasing violations along the Line of Control and said there have been far more cases this year than in the last two-three years. “Yes, there is increased intensity in the amount of LoC violations this year. I mean this is there for the whole world to see… Sanctity of ceasefire on LoC must be maintained,” he said. “In some years, there is less activity, in some years there is more. It’s been a little excessive as the routes will close down very shortly, once the snow sets in. So, frantic efforts are made in this period to push in as many infiltrators as possible,” he said. General Singh had earlier dismissed the suggestion that a Kargil-like situation had developed in Keran sector, saying it was an infiltration attempt by 30 to 40 terrorists. “They (the infiltrators) have been stopped, prevented. Some of them have been neutralised. Operations are on to flush them out. It is a matter of time,” he said. Speaking about IAF’s plan for inducting more Sukhoi 30MKI squadrons, the air chief said they would have 13-and-a-half squadrons by 2017. The next squadron would be based in Tezpur under the Eastern Air Command and one more squadron would be deployed in Halwara as part of the Western Air Command. The total number of such squadrons under Western Command would thus go to three — two in Halwara and one in Sirsa, he said. “The 12th squadron will be based in Chabua and the last in Thanjavur under the Southern Air Command,” Browne said. The squadron in Sirsa was set up recently and would be fully operationalised in four-five months, he said. PTI