Rafale Jets India: Ambala air base is about 200 km from the Pakistani border,
Ambala, Haryana:
Large gatherings are prohibited and security has been tightened near Ambala Air Base in Haryana where the top five of a batch of French Rafale fighter jets will make a touchdown this afternoon. Filming of videos and photographs was also banned near the airbase, officials said on Tuesday. The roads around the air base – located about 200 km from the border with Pakistan – have been sealed.
The five Rafale planes took off from France on Monday, traveled a distance of nearly 7,000 km with in-flight refueling and made a single stopover at a French air base in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“Article 144, which prohibits the gathering of four or more people, was imposed in villages near the air base, including Dhulkot, Baldev Nagar, Garnala and Panjkhora,” Deputy Commissioner Ashok Sharma said, quoted by the press agency PTI.
Filming videos or taking photos around the air base and neighboring areas will remain “strictly prohibited”, he added.
Haryana’s Interior Minister Anil Vij said on Tuesday that Ambala police had taken all necessary measures.
Air Chief of Staff RKS Bhadauria will be at the air base to receive Rafale jets, the first installment of 36 planes bought by India from France as part of an intergovernmental agreement of Rs 59,000 crore in 2016.
Rafale fighter jets are capable of carrying a range of highly effective weapons, including the Meteor air-to-air missile and the Scalp cruise missile.
“The delivery of ten planes was completed on time. Five will remain in France for the training mission. The delivery of the thirty-six planes will be completed on schedule by the end of 2021,” said the embassy of India in France in a statement on Monday.
