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IAF chief lands C-130J, inaugurates Nyoma airbase in Ladakh
he Mudh-Nyoma air force station is located at a height of 13,700 feet and is 23 km from the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.
NEW DELHI: Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh on Wednesday inaugurated the Mudh-Nyoma airbase in Ladakh by landing a C-130J special operations aircraft there, a shot in the arm for India’s infrastructure push along its farthest frontiers, officials aware of the matter said.
Singh was accompanied by Western Air Command chief Air Marshal Jeetendra Mishra, the officials said, asking not to be named. The Mudh-Nyoma air force station is located at a height of 13,700 feet and is 23 km from the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. The ₹218-crore project was spearheaded by a crew of women officers from the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). Defence minister Rajnath Singh laid the foundation stone for the airbase in September 2023; he had then said it would be a “game-changer” for the armed forces.
The full-fledged airbase, with a 2.7-km runway, is capable of operating fighter jets, transport planes and helicopters. Allied infrastructure at the airbase includes hangars, the air traffic control building and hard standing (hard-surfaced areas for parking vehicles and aircraft). Work on upgrading the Nyoma airstrip to a full-fledged base for fighter operations was carried out by the BRO in the shadow of the military standoff with China along the LAC that began in April-May 2020 and was resolved last year.
The Indian Army resumed its patrolling activity in Demchok and Depsang in eastern Ladakh in 2024 after a gap of more than four years. This restored the ground situation in the two forward areas to what it was pre-April 2020, before the standoff began. With the breakthrough, the Indian Army and Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) moved past a two-year impasse in negotiations -- the fourth and last round of disengagement from Patrolling Point-15 in the Gogra-Hot Springs area took place in September 2022 after which the talks were deadlocked.
BRO chief Lieutenant General Raghu Srinivasan had earlier described the Mudh-Nyoma airbase as one of the most important projects being executed by BRO in the Ladakh sector.
After the standoff with China began, India built various roads, bridges, tunnels, airfields and helipads in its border areas to enhance military mobility and logistics support for deployed forces, and for civilian use. Infrastructure development also focussed on providing a better living experience and improved facilities to soldiers, and the conservation of modern weapons and equipment deployed in forward areas.
To be sure, China has constructed new airbases, missile sites, roads, bridges, reinforced bunkers, underground facilities to protect military assets from aerial strikes, accommodation for soldiers and ammunition depots.
The Nyoma airstrip was out of use for decades after the 1962 India-China war before the Indian Air Force reactivated it in September 2009 and landed an AN-32 transport aircraft there for the first time.
India’s border infrastructure push has been powered by the speedy execution of strategic projects to support military operations, increased spending, and focussed adoption of technology and techniques.
Nyoma is in a better and flatter valley than Leh and closer to LAC, and thus will prove to be a crucial airbase for the IAF for both fighter and transport operations, strategic affairs expert Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retd) had earlier said.
“It will allow quicker launch of interdiction strikes, and troop and equipment insertion in the forward areas if needed.”
In its 2024 year-end review, the defence ministry said the overall situation along LAC with China is “stable but sensitive.” In June, India pushed for a permanent solution of border demarcation with China and underlined the need to solve complex issues through a structured roadmap of engagement and de-escalation, during talks between defence minister Rajnath Singh and his Chinese counterpart Admiral Dong Jun.
