Sukhois land in Imphal, IAF intensifies sorties along Myanmar border

People residing close to Imphal International Airport at Tuihal were in for a surprise on Tuesday morning when two Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets of the Air Force landed at the airport around 10 am.

While neither the airport authorities Airport Authorities at Tulihal nor the Air Force made any statement on the actual reason for the unscheduled landing, speculations are rife that it may be part of the IAF’s increasing sorties along the India-Myanmar border.

According to Imphal airport sources, the two Su-30 jets  stayed at there for around  20 minutes. During its brief stay, the jets were refuelled, source added.

However, the airport authorities denied any request from the jets for emergency landing. Deccan Herald tried several times to get an official word from the Eastern Air Command based at Shillong but wasn’t successful till the time of filing this report.

While some IAF sources held the jets’ landing as part of routine sorties to test-landing in civilian airports like Imphal, some other source said the sorties along the India-China and India-Myanmar borders have been intensified for which the Su-30s stationed at Tezpur and Chabua in Assam are frequently used.

Deccan Herald had earlier reported that the IAF is changing its air defence strategy along the India-Myanmar border. The decision came after June 9, when Indian Special Forces from 21 Para regiment conducted successful surgical strikes at the militant bases along the India-Myanmar border in Manipur and Nagaland.