IAF underutilised in past conflicts: Air Chief
Due to its traditional mindset and lack of political will, India did not utilise its military and air power in all the conflicts since Independence to achieve the “end state,” the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, said on Thursday.
Referring to the war in Kashmir in 1948 when Pakistan made attempts to annex the State, he reflected on the role the IAF’s transport aircraft played in forming an air bridge to transport troops for several months, and observed that when a military solution was in sight, India took the “moral high ground” and went to the United Nations (U.N.) for a peaceful solution.
“The problem still continues. The Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) remains a thorn in our flesh,” he said speaking at a seminar on aerospace power organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Centre for Air Power Studies.
A similar situation prevailed in 1962 and 1965 when air power was “underutilised”. In the 1965 conflict, India did not use air power against East Pakistan for political reasons despite the Pakistani Air Force operating from East Pakistan attacking our air bases, he said. “We had severe setbacks but we never retaliated.”
The only time air power was utilised was in the 1971 war during which they were integrated with the Army and the result, he said, was that Bangladesh was created in just about 15 days.
Mr. Raha said the situation had now changed. “We are ready to use aerospace power to defend ourselves and even deter conflicts in the region,” he said.
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