Commanders of IAF, Army formations meet

Aiming to further enhance their coordination, commanders of the IAF and Army formations deployed along the Pakistan border met in New Delhi to discuss their operational preparedness and strengthen cooperation.

Western Army Commander Lt Gen Sanjeev Chachra and Western Air Command (WAC) Chief Air Marshal Arup Raha met in New Delhi for the first time after assuming commands of their respective formations recently, an IAF spokesperson said.

The two officers held several rounds of discussions on numerous operational aspects and termed their meeting as "continuation of the operational jointness between the two formations".

The two formations work closely for a wide spectrum of operational issues and deep operational synergy exists between them to ensure real-time sharing of information and optimum utilisation of resources including Air Defence networks, intelligence sharing and fine-tuning the operational plans, he said.

The WAC's area of operations includes Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and up to Bikaner in Rajasthan. Three commands of the Army fall in this area including the Chandimandir-based Western Command, Jaipur-based South Western Command and the Udhampur-based Northern Command.

To ensure a better cooperation between the Western Army Command and Western Air Command, the IAF has posted an Air Vice Marshal-rank officer (AVM P N Kaushik) in Chandimandir and the Army in turn has posted a Colonel at the WAC headquarters in New Delhi.

"A Ground Liaison (GL) section located at HQ WAC, headed by a Colonel provides a reciprocal support for the Army formations. The GL section is active throughout the year and supports operations of three Army commands associated with WAC," the spokesperson said.