IAF on Saturday sought land from the Uttarakhand government for setting up facilities that will help it to carry out activities in the border areas, amid the ongoing standoff with China along the LAC.

Central Air Command chief, Air Marshal Rajesh Kumar met Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat to discuss the availability of land for installing air defence radars, PTI reported. Uttarakhand shares its borders with China and Nepal.

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After the meeting, the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief said that facilities like air defence radars and an advance landing ground in Uttarakhand’s hilly districts of Chamoli, Pithoragarh and Uttarkashi will be of great help to the air force due to their strategic significance.

The Air Marshal requested for expansion of Pantnagar, Jollygrant and Pithoragarh airports an also sought allocation of land for an airport in Chaukhutiya.

CM Trivendra Rawat said that land will be made available to the IAF on priority basis to conduct its activities and immediately ordered the appointment of a nodal officer to identify suitable land for the purpose.

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The meeting came a day after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Moscow.

At the Moscow meeting, India and China agreed on a 5-point action plan to disengage and defuse the tensions along the Line of Actual Control, where Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in a four and a half month-long standoff.