November 14, 2002	Thursday	Ramazan 8, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 13: The chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF), Air Chief Marshal S. Krishnaswamy, has said that the IAF had not withdrawn from strategic positions along the border and it had only “redeployed and readjusted” forces in the new circumstances.

An Indian daily, the Deccan Herald, on Wednesday quoted Krishnaswamy as saying that “the threat was always there. But we can go into action at the shortest possible time.

“We are operationally very alert. There were no gaps in the air space and IAF had sent unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) across the borders for surveillance. Some of them are shot down. But this is a routine exercise,” he added.

The IAF had different variants of the aircraft, including Mig-21 FL, which was inducted into the force in 1956, he said. Some of the machines have finished their technical life and they will be out, he explained.

To a question about the recent joint exercise between the IAF and the US air force, the air chief said it was part of efforts to explore “inter-operability” since both forces had different machines and different procedures even though the methodology was similar.—APP