IAF holds 1st air show in northeast; Su-30, Rafale among aircraft deployed

Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said the IAF changed the show timings from October, when it is usually held, to coincide with the force’s anniversary celebrations, to organise it in the northeast

The Indian Air Force (IAF) deployed 75 aircraft, including helicopters and fighter jets such as the Sukhoi Su-30 and Rafale, for its first air show in the northeast on Sunday as part of its 93rd anniversary celebrations. The show concluded with the Surya Kiran aerobatics and Sarang helicopter display team’s synchronised manoeuvring.

Sukhoi Su-30 and Rafale were among the aircraft deployed. (X)

Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said the IAF had been trying to do such an air show in the northeast for some time. He added that the IAF changed its timings from October, when it is usually held, to coincide with the IAF anniversary celebrations, to November to organise it in the northeast. “I am amazed at the full support of the people and the local administration,” he said.

Assam governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya was the chief guest at the event. Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, and other top IAF officers were among others who attended it.

Sarma cited the message of aerial dominance and said the northeast has come a long way under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. “From being nearly abandoned during the 1962 war to sending such a powerful message of aerial dominance, the North East came a long way under the visionary leadership of Adarniya Narendra Modiji,” Sarma said on X in an apparent reference to the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s comment during the 1962 war with China that his “heart goes out” for Assam’s people.

Some viewed the comment amid the Chinese forces advancing towards the state as the Union government abandoning the region.

Sarma said the air show would give sleepless nights to enemies within and outside the country. “The North East’s first ever air show was indeed a breathtaking show of strength, skill, and spirit. Your overwhelming support for Bharat’s Air Warriors - so close to the Chicken Neck and four international borders - will give sleepless nights to enemies inside and outside the country,” Sarma said on X.

The Siliguri Corridor, also known as Chicken’s Neck, is a narrow 22 km land stretch in West Bengal connecting the northeast with the rest of India. The stretch lies between Nepal in the north and Bangladesh in the south.

The air show was held amid an upgrade in military-to-military engagements between Dhaka and Islamabad and a thawing in relations between the two countries after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh in 2024.

There have since been a series of high-level contacts between the political and security establishments of Bangladesh and Pakistan. It has coincided with a downturn in India-Bangladesh relations.

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus-led caretaker government took over following the ouster of Hasina, who has been in self-exile in India since 2024.