Hard landing of IAF chopper in Ladakh, probe ordered

An Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter on Monday made a hard landing near Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO), the northernmost airstrip in eastern Ladakh. Sources said that the Indian Air Force’s advanced light helicopter Dhruv made a hard landing near the DBO. Three Indian Air Force personnel were on board the helicopter when the incident took place on Monday morning. Sources said that a court of inquiry has been ordered into the incident. DBO is just north of the Depsang plains, one of the more than a year-long standoff between India and China. It is strategically important to India, as it is only a few kilometers from the Karakoram Pass to the north. Unlike the Depsang-dbo sector, the Chinese military has a strong military presence. In the Depsang Plains, China allows Indian troops its traditional patrolling limits: Patrolling Point 10, PP11, PP11A, Blocking PP12 and PP13 from reaching. The Air Force has deployed additional assets along with the Indian Army in the entire eastern Ladakh region where the standoff with China began last May when it diverted its forces and crossed the Line of Actual Control at several points. While both sides stepped back into the Pangong Tso area in February, significantly reducing tensions as the troops were only a few hundred meters away, there has been no further disruption from other friction points in the area. . There has been no further disintegration from other friction points in this region. . There has been no further disintegration from other friction points in this region. .