In the shadow of an admittedly deep shift in threat standpoints in the Asian continent after Beijing’s January test of an anti-satellite weapon system, starting today New Delhi finds itself the voluntary host to what is possibly the largest single congregation of air force chiefs ever for a two day-long ruminations on “aerospace power in tomorrow’s world”. Twenty-three air force chiefs and 14 senior representatives of air chiefs from a total of 37 countries came together today for the seminar. The IAF began organising the event late last year, though the two-day deliberations have inadvertently been given direction by China’s newly acquired anti-satellite capability. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who was chief guest at the inaugural session, said: “While the focus on aerospace power is natural in today’s circumstances,it is in our common interest to preserve outer space as a sanctuary from weapons and guard it as the common, peaceful heritage of mankind.” “The security and safety of assets in outer space is of crucial importance for global economic and social development. We call upon all states to redouble efforts to strengthen the international legal regime for the peaceful use of outer space.” IAF chief SP Tyagi, who will put forth his own views on China’s move at a meeting of the Strategic Policy Group headed by Cabinet Secretary BK Chaturvedi tomorrow, said: “Our position is the same as that of the government. If the government opposes the weaponisation of space, we cannot take a different view.” “I am envious of the Europeans because they have NATO. We don’t have that in this part of the world. We need a collaborative and common approach here,” Commander of the US Pacific Air Forces Gen Paul V Hester said. The US was the first country to register its antagonism to the Chinese missile test. Maj Gen Lui Xinjiang, deputy commander of the China’s regional air force at Lanzhou, will co-chair a debate tomorrow on joint operations and the integration of aerospace operations with surface forces, while the USAF’s Gen Chip Utterback will chair a session on cooperative aerospace operations in the future. This will be the platform for the IAF to tell its own, albeit nascent, aerospace story. The air chiefs of the UK, France, Germany, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Malaysia are also among those in attendance.
