China on Thursday said it 'firmly opposes' the United States recognition of Arunachal Pradesh as part of Indian territory and affirmed that Washington, DC has nothing to do with the India-China border dispute.
A fleet of fixed wing aircraft and choppers have been deployed to locate the missing Antonov AN-32 aircraft, officials said.
The Bollywood superstar was in the hilly state of Arunachal for the 6th edition of Adventure at Menchuka.
Search operation by IAF and Indian Army helicopters was adversely affected by weather during the day today
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Arunachal Pradesh on Friday, February 20, irritated the Chinese government so much that it summoned the Indian ambassador to register its protest against Modi visiting a territory China claims as Southern Tibet.
India's reaction came in response to Beijing announcing Chinese names for 15 more places in Arunachal Pradesh which the neighbouring country claims as South Tibet.
Four days on, a massive search and rescue operation to trace the Russian-origin aircraft continues, with these tense circumstances leaving family members in despair.
Indian Air Force has deployed all available resources, including Sukhoi-30 combat aircraft and C-130 Special Operations aircraft, on a search mission for locating the missing aircraft.
The 13 IAF personnel have been identified as Wing Commander G M Charles, Squadron Leader H Vinod, Flight Lieutenants L R Thapa, M K Garg, Ashish Tanwar and Sumit Mohanty, Warrant officer K K Mishra, Sergeant Anoop Kumar, Corporal Sherin, LAC (leading aircraft man) S K Singh, LAC Pankaj, and non-combatants Rajesh Kumar and Putali.
The Russian-origin An-32 aircraft lost contact on the afternoon of June 3.
'There is still no road on the last 37 km between the McMahon Line and Menchuka in Arunachal Pradesh. Ironically, during my visit, Beijing announced the opening of a 117-km highway linking Metok, located just north of the McMahon Line. My local friends kept saying with some envy in their voices, "The Chinese are very much in advance on us".' Claude Arpi on a recent visit to the last large village before the McMahon Line that divides India and China.
Steep mountain walls enclose the valley on either side with snow-clad ramparts.
"IAF used the expertise of its air warriors to retrieve the most vital element sought after any air crash -- the Flight Data Recorder (FDR)-cum-Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) or black box in common parlance -- to help provide clues to the air crash," IAF spokesperson Wg Cdr T K Singha said in New Delhi.
The AN-32 aircraft went missing on June 3 after taking off from Assam's Jorhat. The aircraft was headed for Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground in Arunachal Pradesh when it lost contact with ground authorities around 1 pm.
The area is thickly forested and has been receiving heavy rains since the last three days
The Indian Air Force had on Thursday said all 13 people on board the aircraft have died.
'China wants to change the status quo of India's Northern Border and proves that it can do whatever it wants in what it perceives as its own territory,' states Claude Arpi.
A MiG-21 Bison of the IAF, piloted by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was downed during a dogfight between India and Pakistan sides on February 27 after the Balakot airstrike
Four white-coloured SUVs, two Toyota Fortuner and as many Ford Endeavour, with a price tag of around Rs 25 lakh each, have been deployed by the border guarding force at some of its forward locations.
'It is certainly time for New Delhi to open up. Not only should it go ahead at full steam with the roads to the LAC, but the government must also allow tourists to visit these stunningly beautiful areas of Indian territory.'
'The Congress, all these decades, worked on a slow Hindi-isation and Indianisation of Arunachal tribes. The RSS wants rapid Hinduisation,' says Shekhar Gupta.
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