'China rapidly building infrastructure along LAC': IAF chief Amar Preet Singh

NEW DELHI: Chief of air staff (CAS) Air chief marshal Amar Preet Singh on Friday said that China is rapidly building infrastructure along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), especially in the Ladakh sector.
While addressing a press conference ahead of the Air Force Day, the chief of air staff also said that India too was upgrading infrastructure in the area rapidly.
In response to a question, the IAF chief shared his views on China's military growth and India's preparedness in response, saying, "We have done our analysis. We don't have a design to go offensive unnecessarily. Only when we are pushed will we be doing something. So we have our plans in place. One place we can positively say we are training much better than them. We have exposure much better than them."

Singh acknowledged that India has lagged behind China in terms of technology, and stressed the need for India to catch up in both technology and production rates. "Because we do come to know through our sources how they train, how many different air forces they interact with and how many do we interact with. So I am very confident that as far as human angle is concerned, as far as our people behind the machine are concerned, we are way ahead of them. As far as technology is concerned, we may be not so good as of now. We have lagged. We were better than them in technology also some time back. But have lagged in that and we need to catch up with it. As far as production rates are concerned, we are way behind. We need to catch up with that. And that will happen over a period of time. It cannot happen overnight," Singh added.
During the press conference, the air chief marshal also discussed the importance of indigenous weapons systems in tackling future security challenges amidst geopolitical tensions and conflicts worldwide. Singh said, "The Indian Air Force should have entire inventory produced in India by 2047."
The IAF chief stressed the importance of domestic manufacturing capabilities, saying, "When it comes to building the capacity, one is capability, another one is capacity. So building the capacity, it becomes important for our manufacturing agencies to come forward and increase their production rate. When it comes to conflict situations, if you are relying on getting your weapons from outside, there will always be different interests and changing interests which can create a choke point for you."

He further elaborated on the necessity of self-reliance in weapon production, and said, "If you need to fight the war, you have to have them (weapons) being manufactured in India. You cannot afford to have them being bought and rely on that supply chain. It is imperative that we have these things being produced in India. We can't be stocking up everything forever. These things will have life. If we keep stocking up, we'll have wastage."
The most recent formal disengagement along the LAC occurred in September 2022, when both India and China withdrew troops from Patrolling Point-15 in the Gogra-Hot Springs area of Eastern Ladakh. Over the past four years, friction points such as Galwan Valley, the north and south banks of Pangong Tso, and the Gogra-Hot Springs area have seen some progress towards resolution with the establishment of buffer zones along the LAC.