Defence Min gets PM's nod to expedite drone policy; boosting security arsenal discussed

From the high-level meeting at the Prime Minister's 7 Lok Kalyan Marg residence on Tuesday, sources have informed that Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has received PM Modi's nod to expedite a policy on drones. The development comes in the aftermath of the drone attack on the Indian Air Force's Jammu station, wherein two drones armed with IEDs caused blasts over the technical area. Sources have informed that the Defence Minister, prior to his meeting with PM Modi, met with officials and Air Force representatives to deliberate on a special policy pertaining to drones. 

At the high-level meeting which was attended by NSA Ajit Doval and Home Minister Amit Shah as well, sources said that a unanimous clearance was obtained for expediting a policy on drones which had been pushed by the Defence Ministry and IAF on previous occasions as well. PM Modi and Rajnath Singh also discussed futuristic challenges in defence sector, equipping forces with modern equipment, sources added. 

Drone attack at IAF station in Jammu

A first of its kind, the drone attack in the premises of the technical area of the Jammu airbase led to two IAF personnel sustaining minor injuries. The case has been handed over to the National Investigation Agency. Two blasts were heard within a gap of 5 minutes, the first blast is captured in the CCTV at 1.37 am while the second was captured at 1.43 am. A team of Jammu and Kashmir police along with other security agencies and forensic experts rushed to the incident spot to further investigate the cause of the blast. 

Hours later, two more drones were spotted over the Kaluchak military station in the wee hours on Monday. The drones hovering in the Jammu airspace were thwarted and were forced to fly back without causing any damage. Sounding a high alert across security installations and the bordering region with Pakistan, a high-level investigation team of the IAF was dispatched to Jammu after the explosions. The possible target of the drones is said to be the aircraft parked in the dispersal area just meters away. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Vice Air Chief Air Marshal HS Arora regarding the blasts and Western Air Commander Air Marshal VR Chaudhary and Air Marshal Vikram Singh reached the spot to investigate the matter.