Sitharaman visits forward Army, Air Force bases along LAC

New Delhi, Nov 5 (IANS) Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday visited a forward army post in Arunachal Pradesh and an Indian Air Force (IAF) base in Assam to take stock of the defence preparedness and the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

During the visit to the forward army post of Kibithu, she was briefed on the situation and defence preparedness along the LAC. She also interacted with the troops and appreciated their dedication to the service in such remote and inhospitable terrain, a Defence Ministry release said.

Sitharaman later visited Chabua air base, where she took stock of the operational preparedness and infrastructure development at the base.

She inspected a static display of the combat assets available at the station, which included the Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter aircraft and modern missiles.

Sitharaman also interacted with the Air Force personnel serving at this easternmost region and had lunch with them. She appreciated the operational readiness, ongoing infrastructure development and the high morale of the Air Force personnel at the base.

In continuation with her visits to forward areas along the LAC, the Minister had on Saturday visited Bomdilla and Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh, where she attended the inauguration ceremony of the Buddha Mahotsav 2017 and called on the Governor, Brig D.B. Mishra (retd.).