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The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Saturday, May 31, 2008 made operational the Daulatbegi Oldi (DBO) airbase after a gap of 43 years. The Indian Air Force on Saturday landed an AN-32 fixed wing aircraft at the world’s highest advanced landing ground in Ladakh, barely 10 km from the Chinese border. The air-base was set up in 1962 during the Indo-China war and closed in 1965.
The AN-32 transport aircraft carrying Air Officer-in-Chief Western Air Command Air Marshal P K Barbora landed at the unpaved runway at 0850 hours after flying from Chandigarh. The opening of the Daulatbegi Oldi air base will give India high capability to keep an eye on the strategic Karakoram Highway linking China and Pakistan. Sources have revealed that India is also planning to re-open air fields in Chushul and Fukche in eastern Ladakh, which are also along the Sino-Indian border. The defense statement announcing the reopening of the air base read as, that as a part of moves to bolster aerial and land reconnaissance capability in the strategic region, the army carried out the repair work to make the airbase operational again.
