Indian Air Force in favour of using air power to reduce collateral damage

ALLAHABAD - Air Chief Marshal P V Naik on Monday said that any decision to use air power to combat Naxals must be conducted with clear strategy to limit collateral damage.

Addressing a press conference here, Naik reiterated his earlier stand, saying that though Air Force was prepared to tackle any challenge to the country’s internal security, the use of armed forces was not required.If at all a situation arises where the use of Air Force becomes inevitable, there has to be a clarity on the magnitude of the force we are supposed to use so that the collateral damage is minimum,” he added.

Asked whether the Home Ministry has approached the Air Force for help, Naik said: “So far we have not been approached by the Home Ministry for any type of help in combating Naxal,”

He also pointed out that the IAF had already deployed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to track Maoists a couple of years.

“We had deployed UAVs in the tribal areas of the states a couple of years ago and provided inputs at that time. The Air Force is not conducting any reconnaissance in the region at present,” he said.

Earlier, Naik said the State Government and Central security forces are able to handle crisis.

“The state and Central security forces are trained to handle such situations, I don’t think the situation has worsened to the level of ordering a military operation,” he added.

“At this level, it is not required. If the state is willing, they can order us at any time, we are ready for that,” he further said. (ANI)