China Ramps Up Military Activity In Tibet And Xinjiang | Why It Matters To India?

china ramps up military activity in tibet and xinjiang | why it matters to india?

New Delhi: The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has been active in the Tibetan plateau in recent weeks, carrying out a para-dropping exercise in Golmud. A dozen PLA servicemen took off in a Y-20 transport aircraft around the time of the Chinese New Year from Golmud, in Qinghai, in the northern part of the Tibetan plateau, and the drop was 60 km to the east. It is another sign that the PLA aspires to be functional in Tibet throughout the year, including in the winter months, when it is bitterly cold.

More recently, at the Hotan airfield, in Xinjiang, where there is a substantial presence of the PLAAF, three Y-20 aircraft, a large plane for military transportation, were seen. Besides, Hotan has, as usual, a large number of fighters– about 50. About half of them are the J-11, the twin engined air superiority fighter similar to the Russian Sukhoi-27 and about two decades old, and the J-7, which is an older aircraft, similar to the Russian MiG-21. Besides, a few JH-7As, a fighter bomber, are present along with a KJ-500, an airborne early warning system.

Similarly, on the eastern side, at Luliang, in Yunnan, the Chinese have placed a KJ-500 along with a dozen J-11 fighters and two Y-20 heavy-lift transport aircraft. Once again, these are signs that the Chinese are strengthening their armed forces.

With summer coming, the Chinese have also begun setting up new radars in the Pangta and Bamda airfields. These are in the east, opposite North-east India and Pangta, is less than 200km from the line of actual control.