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Source : Times Now
President Droupadi Murmu flies maiden sortie of Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter Jet from Indian Air Force base in Tezpur
Guwahati: President of India Droupadi Murmu took off in a frontline Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet aircraft from the Indian Air Force base in Assam’s Tezpur on Saturday.
The President, who is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces, flew for around 30 minutes covering the Brahmaputra and Tezpur Valley.
The aircraft was flown by Group Captain Naveen Kumar, Commanding Officer of the 106 Squadron. The aircraft flew at a height of about two kilometers above sea level and at a speed of about 800 kilometers per hour. President Murmu is the third President and second woman President to undertake such a sortie, President’s Secretariat said in its release.
In 2009, former President Pratibha Patil made history when she flew in Sukhoi 30 MKI (SB 139) in Pune, becoming the first woman head of state to fly in a warplane.
President Murmu flies sortie in Sukhoi: VIDEO
#WATCH | Assam: President Droupadi Murmu takes sortie on the Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter aircraft pic.twitter.com/jtRVsFR2X2
— ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2023
President Murmu’s maiden flight onboard India’s frontline fighter aircraft in Assam comes at a time when India and China are entangled in a border dispute in eastern Ladakh. It may be noted that Beijing has long claimed that several regions of Arunachal Pradesh are ‘autonomous’ areas of China.
India and China deployed huge number of armed forces along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) following the Galwan Valley clash.
In response to China’s aggressive stance, India deployed its frontline aircraft Sukhois, newly-inducted Rafale jets, Mirage 2000s and missile systems close to LAC to tackle any misadventure of People’s Liberation Army.
As the tensions simmered, both the nuclear-powered countries held several round of Commanders-Level talks to defuse the tension and withdraw heavy military equipment and forces from the border areas. India’s growing Military power
