Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday visited the forward army posts in Arunachal Pradesh and Air force base in Eastern Assam to take stock of the defence preparedness and situation at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
“Yes, she wanted to know the defence preparedness across LAC. And we are happy to say that she is very happy after seeing them,” said an officer of the eastern command.
The officials were happy to received the full time defence minister of India after a gap of almost a year and openly discussed the situation in the far east border of India.
Sitharaman had earlier visited Jammu and Kashmir and naval base in the Andaman and Nicobar Island. On Sunday, Sitharaman visited Bomdila and Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh and attended the inauguration programme of the Buddha Mahotsav 2017, patronised by the Arunachal Pradesh government.
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Lt General Abhay Krishna along with other senior officials accompanied her to the LAC.
“The minister was briefed by the officers about the situation at LAC and the defence preparation by Indian army at the LAC,” said a spokesman of the Defence Ministry in East.
“She spoke to jawans and appreciated their dedication and service in such remote and inhospitable terrain,” said the officer.
After that she visited Chabua, where Indian air force station is located. Chabua is the strategic air base in eastern command where all the assets were displayed to the defence minister by the senior officials. “She took stock of operational preparedness and infrastructure development of the base,” said the senior officer of the defence ministry.
“In the presentation Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter aircraft and other missiles were displayed to the defence minister. The defence minister was also apprised of the urgent requirements as well,” said a source.
Sitharaman also had lunch with the air warriors and interacted in detail with the serving air defence personnel serving at the eastern zone of the country, often described as the most strategic because of the shared border with China.
