Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik inaugurated a new airfield with ‘modern infrastructure’ at Phalodi in Rajasthan. The airfield, located between Jaisalmer and Jodhpur, is around 100 km from the international border with Pakistan. A government note stated “with specific consideration to the geo-political scenario and the need for in-built flexibility in operational requirements,” the new air base was approved by the government in April 2000.1

• 1. Government of India, Press Information Bureau, ‘Air Chief to Inaugurate New Air field in Phalodi’, MoD Press Release, April 5, 2010, at http://www.pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=60056&kwd=; ‘Soon, an Air Force airfield along Pak border’, NDTV, April 5, 2010 at http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/soon-an-air-force-airfield-along-pak-bord...