Pakistan Builds Air Base Near Gujarat Border, Deploys Chinese JF-17 Fighters

New Delhi, 10 July 2018

After a long gap, Pakistan seems to be upping the ante in the Saurashtra-Kutch region of Gujarat. There have been reports that Pakistan has developed an airbase along the Gujarat border.

The country has developed a modern airfield in Bholari for military aircraft operations close to the border with India in the Hyderabad district of Pakistan’s Sindh province. The Pakistan Air Force is going to deploy its fleet of Chinese JF-17 fighters here.

“Though the airfield has been in existence for some time now, activities like intensive flying of combat aircraft is a recent phenomenon,” sources told IndiaToday.in. The Pakistani Air Force is inducting a large number of JF-17s from China to match the Indian Air Force capabilities on its eastern front.

Pakistan’s Special Service Group (Navy) commandos are also based in the vicinity of the Hyderabad base and have been known for training Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists for carrying out attacks using the sea route.

Following the rapid development on the Pakistan side, the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already cleared the setting up of a forward fighter base in Deesa, Gujarat.

The airfield will plug the air gaps on the border but will take at least three to four years to extend the runway, construct fighter pens and other infrastructure.

Courtesy: MSN