Crashed Indian military plane found

• Source: Global Times
• [08:25 June 11 2009]
• Comments

By Sun Wei

Indian rescuers yesterday found the wreckage of a military plane which crashed overnight in the so-called “Arunachal Pradesh,” killing all 13 on board, including four senior Indian air force officers.

The Russian-built Antanov-12 “went missing after it took off from Mechuka air base,” said Indian Air Force spokesman Ranjit Sahu.

“It would be too early to say whether the aircraft crashed into the hill or downed due to technical problems,” Sahu said.

Some reports said that the plane crashed because of heavy rain overnight.

To boost its capabilities of countering China, Indian Defense Ministry representative Col. R. Kalia said the Indian Air Force will deploy a squadron of Su-30MKI combat jets next week to Tezpur airbase.

India will also deploy two army divisions, each comprising around 25,000 to 30,000 personnel, along with artillery, medical, signals and engineering support in the region.

Although maintaining that India’s relations with China are not antagonistic, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Tuesday that the border issue is complex.

“The continuous Indian military expansion along the border casts a shadow over bilateral negotiations, ” Fu Xiaoqiang, an expert on South Asian Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), told the Global Times. He added that India aims to make its control of the area an established fact.

“It goes against the spirit of peace and tranquility held by the two countries by creating tensions near the Sino-Indian border,” said Li Li, another expert with CICIR.

Agencies contributed to this story