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Key IAF base near Pakistan border in 21 months, to keep watch over land, sea

Gujarat’s fourth IAF base will serve several strategic and tactical objectives

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the inauguration of DefExpo 22, in Gandhinagar | PTI Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the inauguration of DefExpo 22, in Gandhinagar | PTI

Situated strategically and located just 130 km from the international border with Pakistan, the diminutive 1,000 metre airstrip at Deesa is set to become a major forward airbase in India’s west in 21 months from now, a far cry from the times when the airstrip served the princely state of Palanpur.

Laying the foundation stone remotely from Gandhinagar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his visit to poll-bound Gujarat, said: “With the IAF being stationed at Deesa, we will be able to give a fitting response to any threat that may emanate from the western side.”

The PM did not take Pakistan’s name with whom India has already fought two major wars since 1947 besides thwarting the Kargil intrusion in the summer of 1999, but said Deesa will become the centre of India’s ‘vayushakti’ (military air power).

A key forward base at Deesa would serve several military purposes besides ensuring protection to the hinterland.

It will plug the 331 km long gaping space between IAF bases at Rajasthan’s Barmer and Gujarat’s Bhuj— a crying need of the Indian military establishment for decades.

A base in Deesa will also buttress security as IAF aircraft can undertake operations both across the land border and the Arabin Sea. The key Pakistani navy hub of Karachi will also be in greater proximity.

Like the IAF base in Thanjavur, the Deesa IAF base, with its sprawling 16 sq km area, will be Gujarat’s fourth major IAF base after Bhuj, Jamnagar and Nalia.

The PM also announced the release of the fourth ‘positive’ list of items and equipment that can be procured only from within the country.

Earlier, the prime minister inaugurated the DefExpo22 which is stated to be the largest among its editions till date with about 1,349 exhibitors having set stalls here.

Highlighting the country’s ongoing ‘atmanirbharta’ (self reliance) effort that has resulted in new found confidence, the PM, tongue-in-cheek, aptly summed it: “The country that released doves into the skies (a symbolic statement of yearning for peace) now releases cheetahs into the wild.”

The cheetah reference was to the release of eight big cats into the Kuno national park in Madhya Pradesh by the PM on his birthday last month.

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