What is the purpose of India’s construction of a modern airbase near the Pakistani border?
The Prime Minister of India last week laid the foundation stone of an air base at ‘Desa’ in the state of Gujarat near the border with Pakistan, which is being considered as important for the air defense of the country.
The new air base is located in the Banus Kantha district of North Gujarat and will be fully operational by December next year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while laying the foundation stone of the air base, said that it will emerge as an effective hub for the country’s security. He said that the international (Pakistani) border is only 130 km away from here. If our forces, especially the Air Force, are present in Desa, we will be able to respond to any challenge on the western border more effectively.
Defense analyst Rahul Bedi says that this base is being built as a precautionary measure. Others are promoting Modi’s ‘forward policy’ of India. They are trying to show an aggressive policy that India is also quite dominant and is not going to lag behind. This includes Modi’s ‘bravado’.
It is the fifth airbase of Gujarat. Apart from this, the state has major Indian Air Force bases at Baroda, Jamnagar, Bhaj and Nalia (Kutch). Among them, some other Bhaj bases like Desa are located near the border of Pakistan.
According to Rahul Bedi, it is not expected to have any significant impact on Pakistan. They can enlarge or upgrade their existing air bases.
Desa Air Base will be equipped with the latest technology and artificial intelligence aircraft equipment.
This base is being constructed on 4519 acres of land. This land was already owned by the Air Force and currently there are 20 surveillance towers built there while a 22 km wall is built around this land.
Defense analyst Rahul Bedi told the BBC that there was some talk of starting this project during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure, but his government left before work on the project could begin, after 20 years of delay. No progress has been made so far. When Modi came back to power, a year ago, he allocated a budget of Rs 1000 crore for this air base. According to Air Force sources, this base will be developed in two phases. In the first phase, runway, parallel taxiway, loop taxi track and fighter squadron dispersal area etc. will be constructed for warships. In the second phase, a modern technical control building and residential buildings for air force personnel will be constructed.
The Engineer-in-Chief of the project Lt. Gen. Harpal Singh has been quoted as saying that the entire project is targeted to be completed by December 2023.
This air base is also being built in view of the preservation of industrial zones worth over one trillion dollars in and around cities like Ahmedabad, Bhau Nagar and Baroda in Gujarat.
According to Rahul Bedi, one of the main reasons for the construction of the Dadesa base is to protect the Jamnagar oil refinery. It is the world’s largest oil refinery named Reliance. If it comes under any attack, India will be in big trouble. This base is important for its protection.
After the clash with China in Ladakh two years ago, India has been busy modernizing its air force on a large scale.
Most of the warplanes of the Indian Air Force came from Russia. Among them, MiG-21, MiG-29 and Sukhoi fighter jets are noteworthy. Among them, the oldest warships are the MiG-21. Rafale, Mirage, Jaguar and other new warplanes are being gradually replaced by these planes.
According to the Indian Air Force, it currently has a total of 1645 aircraft, including 632 fighter jets, 438 helicopters, 250 transport aircraft and 304 training aircraft.
Recently, India has inducted indigenously developed light combat aircraft ‘Tejas’ and ‘Parchand’ helicopters into the Indian Air Force. In future, these will be inducted into the Air Force in large numbers.
At present, India has 31 fighter squadrons. The target is to increase their number to 42 squadrons in the next ten years. Along with the innovation of the Air Force, there are also plans to build more air bases and new airstrips near the borders in the coming years.
