India deploys six more jets in Kashmir

NEW DELHI: India has deployed its top fighter jets in its part of disputed Kashmir bordering Pakistan, officials and a report said Wednesday.

At least six Soviet-built Sukhoi-30MKI jets, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, have been deployed at Avantipura air force base near Kashmir's largest city Srinagar.

The base is equipped with crash-prone MiG-21 jets, which India first imported from the Soviet Union in the 1960s.

"The Sukhois had been held deep down our strategic corridor in (the western Indian city of) Pune, and their deployment in Kashmir will address any perceived threat," an air force official said on condition he was not named. "But this is a defensive stance," the officer said.