Is India and Pakistan heading for a war over Article 370? Pakistan has moved its Air Force closer to the border and sought to raise the matter in the United Nations Security Council.(UNSC).
The Indian intelligence agencies have spotted at least three Pakistan Air Force transport aircraft C-130 bringing equipment to Skardu airbase.
There are reports that Pakistan is moving its fighter aircraft at forward airbase Skardu near Ladakh as
Pakistan is expected to deploy Chinese made JF-17 fighter aircraft at Skardu airbase.
Meanwhile inthe United Nations, as China raised the move to scrap the special statusgranted to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the state into two Union Territorieswith India and days after Pakistan approached the United Nations SecurityCouncil (UNSC) over J&K, Poland — which currently holds the UNSC presidency— has made it clear that Delhi and Islamabad should find a solution"bilaterally".
This is thefirst time that Poland has spoken out on the heightened diplomatic tensionbetween India and Pakistan. This also puts a lid on Pakistan's attempts toraise the issue at the UNSC for the time being.
In the past,Pakistan has used the air base to support its Army operations on the borderwith India.
JF-17 is now the backbone of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) defence as US has stopped sale of new F16 aircraft to Pakistan.
Chinese JF-17 is a single-engine fighter which can be used for ground attack and aircraft interception. However, unlike India's top-line aircraft Su-30, which can carry 8 beyond-visual-range (BVR) missiles, JF-17 can carry only four BVR missiles.
Indian AirForce is already on high alert and has been conducting Combat Air Patrol (CAP)over Jammu and Kashmir.
IAF has theAirborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft to monitor the airspacedeep inside the enemy territory and operates on secure communication withnetwork-centric warfare capabilities.
Pakistan's government and Army are under pressure from the domestic front to do something after Centre revoked article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).
SkarduAirport is a domestic civil airport in Skardu in Gilgit-Baltistan area ofPakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), which also serves as PAF's forward operatingbase.
