Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday laid the foundation stone for the world's highest fighter field at Nyoma in the eastern Ladakh region along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), according to an official statement.
A defense ministry statement said that the airfield would be developed at the cost of $24.1 million and would be a boost to country’s air infrastructure.
“The Raksha Mantri (defense minister) exuded confidence that this airfield, which will be one of the world’s highest, would prove to be a game-changer for the Armed Forces,” the Indian statement said.
The airfield is located at an altitude of over 13,400 feet.
The airfield is being developed by Border Roads Organization (BRO), a defense ministry agency responsible for developing infrastructure at India’s borders.
The Indian Army and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is involved in a military standoff in the eastern Ladakh region since April-May 2020.
Both the armies have managed to disengage troops from three friction points-- north and south banks of Pangong Tso Lake and the Gogra-Hot Springs area.
However, thousands of troops both the sides remain engaged in a standoff at Depsang Plains and the Demchok Sector (CNY Nullah), according to Indian defense ministry sources cited in Indian media.
India Inaugurates 90 Border Infrastructure Projects
In addition to laying the foundation stone for the Nyoma airfield, the defense minister also inaugurated 90 other projects which have been built by the BRO at an estimated cost of $350 million, the ministry said.
The new projects include the Nechiphu Tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh, two airfields in West Bengal, two helipads, 22 roads and 63 bridges, the ministry said.
The statement noted that 36 of these projects are located in Arunachal Pradesh, 26 of them are in the Ladakh region, 11 are in Jammu and Kashmir, five are in Mizoram, three in Himachal Pradesh and two each in Sikkim, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
Three of the new projects are located in Uttarakhand, Nagaland and West Bengal.
A majority of the projects are in the regions along the LAC, with several of them in regions bordering Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Addressing the inauguration event, Singh said that an enhanced border infrastructure wasn’t only critical from the point of view from national security but also helped in strengthening connectivity with a neighbouring country which “functions with a spirit of co-operation with India”.