Indian Air Force to hold war games along international border

Dubai: The Indian Air Force will hold large-scale military drills in Rajasthan, along the international border with Pakistan, a NOTAM, or Notice to Airmen, issued Tuesday evening said, according to NDTV.

The drills will begin 9.30pm Wednesday and end around five-and-a-half hours later, during which time flights departing or landing at airport close to the border will be suspended, the report said.

The war games will also take place as states conduct ‘civil defence’ drills across India. These drills, first since 1971, will take place at nearly 300 locations, including national capital Delhi.

A ‘civil defence’ district refers to a geographical area having an armed forces facility or significant economic or public infrastructure, such as an oil refinery or a nuclear plant.

Hours earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval - for the second time in as many days - as speculation continues over Delhi’s response.

The PM has held multiple meetings with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Mr Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, and the Army, Navy, and Air Force chief since the attack.

Last week, at one such meeting, PM Modi reportedly gave the military ‘complete freedom’ to plan and execute an armed response to the Pahalgam terror incident.

On Monday Pakistan said it had successfully test-fired Fatah - a homemade surface-to-surface missile with a range of up to 120 km. The test, media said, was “aimed at validating the design and performance features” and was part of a larger military drill called Exercise INDUS.

The Fatah test-firing was the second in 48 hours by Pakistan.

India, meanwhile, has test-fired an indigenously developed underwater mine with advanced capabilities, including sensors that can detect acoustic, magnetic, and pressure signatures produced by ships.

India will conduct mock civil defence drills on Wednesday, government officials said, as fears rise of a regional conflict following an attack in contested Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on arch-rival Pakistan.

“The Ministry of Home Affairs has asked several states to conduct mock drills for effective civil defence”, Kanchan Gupta, a senior advisor from the information ministry, said in a statement.

Gupta said this would involve rehearsing an “evacuation plan” and the “training of civilians, students, etc., on the civil defence aspects to protect themselves in the event of a hostile attack”.

Drills will also test air raid warning sirens, prepare for blackouts, and ready vital installations for camouflage.