Sareen stands by air-base shift

GANDHINAGAR, May 1: Air Chief Marshal S K Sareen, Chief of the Air Staff, on Friday justified the shifting of the South-Western Air Command ...

GANDHINAGAR, May 1: Air Chief Marshal S K Sareen, Chief of the Air Staff, on Friday justified the shifting of the South-Western Air Command (SWAC) headquarters from Jodhpur to Gandhinagar. He said that the move was “a part of war strategy”.

After inaugurating the SWAC headquarters here, Sareen told the press that it would take only 11 minutes for the enemy to strike the Jodhpur forward base of the SWAC. Therefore, it was advisable to shift the headquarters. “Such an operational air base should be kept in depth,” he explained.

The Air Chief Marshal said a move was afoot to create a new SouthWestern Air Command base in the Union Territory of Diu, so that the off-shore oil rig at Mumbai High and the entire west coast could be well protected. “I hope the civil aviation authorities will share the financial burden in case the Diu runway is extended,” he added.

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The Air Chief Marshal also expressed his gratitude to the Gujarat Government for providing 600 residential units for the SWAC staff in the statecapital, Gandhinagar, and the premises to accommodate the command headquarters temporarily until its own facilities were created near Koba village on the Gandhinagar-Ahmedabad highway.

He said a pilotless small-engined plane, which flew in from Pakistan, had been shot down in the Kutch border about two years ago. The plane was believed to have been sent to take photographs of strategic locations in the border.

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