NEW DELHI, 30 December 2020, (TON): Indian Air Force chief R.K.S. Bhadauria on 29 December 2020 that China’s objective may be to engage in a military standoff with India to change the status quo in Ladakh. He feared that Pakistan is becoming a pawn in Chinese policy and Beijing could use it to enter Afghanistan after the exit of US forces. He confirmed heavy deployment of radars, surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles as well as other air assets to support Chinese army in view of the border standoff in eastern Ladakh.

Indian Air Force chief  said, "US exit from Afghanistan has opened options for China in the region, both direct and through Pakistan, allowing it entry into Central Asia, a region they have been eyeing for long."

Meanwhile, the officials at Beijing issued strong denial of any Chinese objective to dominate region may enter Afghanistan. The statement said, New Delhi Afghan policy is based on continuous presence of foreign forces that allow Indian presence in Kabul.

While expressing his concerns, he said, "Was it deployment and training of their western theatre forces in a war like scenario where Galwan was an overreach or was it to fine tune and enhance their military technologies and fill the gaps or it could be planned to start border talks for new positions or was it just a misadventure that got escalated."

He said, "China's aspirations are on the global front and regional domination is a part of the route. Any serious China-India conflict is not good for China at the global front and does not suit their goal."

While explaining Chinese objectives behind aggression in Ladakh, Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria said: "Pakistan is increasingly becoming a pawn in Chinese policy. Under the increased CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) debt trap, we are going to further witness military dependency."