NEW DELHI (Sputnik) — The Sukhoi jet, with two pilots aged between 25 and 30 on board, went missing after taking off from the Tezpur air force station situated in the north-eastern part of the country. The aircraft was on a routine training sortie.
Indian authorities deployed a C-130 aircraft with electro-optical payload, Su-30 aircraft with recce capability, four ground parties of IAF personnel, nine parties of Indian Army and two parties of state administration to locate the jet.
A major part of Arunachal Pradesh, one of 29 Indian states, is a target of a territorial dispute between India and China.
Earlier, Lu Kang, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, warned India against "disrupting peace" in the region while the search and rescue operation was in process: "On the eastern section of the India-China border, China's position is consistent and clear. We hope India can stick to the arrangements reached between the two sides and avoid disrupting peace and stability at the border areas."
The Sukhoi-30MKI is a twin-seater, twin-engine multi-role fighter of Russian origin, which is capable of carrying a variety of medium-range guided air-to-air missiles with active or semi-active radar or infrared homing close range missiles.
