Pak jets fly over Siachen Glacier, IAF denies airspace violation

A week after reports cited Indian Air Chief asking his men to be combat ready, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) fighter jets Mirage flew close to the Siachen glacier, Pakistani media reports said, adding that all of the country's forward operating bases have been made fully operational.

The report comes a day after the Indian Army informed about 'punitive fire assaults' on Pakistani positions across the Line of Control,

According to Pak media reports, Chief of Air Staff Sohail Aman had paid a visit along with force's top officials to the forward airbase in Skardu today.

According to PAF, Aman met the pilots and technical staff of the fighting force and a fighter squadron led by the PAF Air Chief himself carried out higher and lower altitude flights over the Siachen Glacier.

Air Chief Sohail Aman flew a Mirage jet, the reports said, adding, ''Mirage jets of PAF are part of exercises since the forward base was made operational.'' Samaa TV reported.

Indian Air Force sources, however, denied any air space violation over Siachen but said the jets did fly close to it (Siachen). "If Pakistani jets would have flown over Siachen then they would have been given befitting reply under standard operating procedures."

The Siachen glacier is the highest battleground on the earth. It is located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayan mountains where the Line of Control between India and Pakistan ends

PAF spokesman claimed that its fighter jets flew near Siachin during the exercises as PAF showed its expertise and readiness for war on short notice.

While addressing the PAF officers, the air chief stated that Pakistan Air Force is ready throughout the year to respond to any attack, adding that the nation should not be worried over threatening statements of enemy.

''If anyone tried to do some kind of misadventure with Pakistan, it will face befitting response which will be remembered for generations,'' he asserted.

A report in The Indian Express last week said Indian Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa has written a personal letter to nearly 12,000 officers of the Indian Air Force (IAF), asking them ''to be prepared for operations with our present holdings, at a very short notice.

''In the present scenario, there is an ever persistent sub-conventional threat. Therefore, we need to be prepared for operations with our present holdings, at a very short notice,'' the report quoted the letter as stating.