After it shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon in February, the US military held a brief conversation with the Indian side and other like-minded countries to update them about the matter, a senior American military commander said on April 10.
General Kenneth S Wilsbach, commander of the US Pacific Air Forces, said the country held the interaction behind closed doors with most of the air chiefs of the region. The suspected giant Chinese balloon was supposedly spying on key military sites across America. The US used fighter jets to bring down the balloon off the coast of South Carolina led to a diplomatic crisis with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelling a scheduled trip to China.
There were reports of an unidentified object flying in the sky of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands over a year ago. There were reports that the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by the US had also transgressed over Canadian territory.
The US military commander was in India in connection with a mega air exercise between the two countries. Gen Wilsbach said it is important to protect the sovereignty of the airspace of various countries across the world. In June 2016, the US designated India a “Major Defence Partner” paving the way for sharing of critical military equipment and technology.
