According to official sources, 'TupolovTu 153M' aircraft of Chinese PLA had carried out two to three sorties earlier this year in the middle sector falling in the areas of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Piecing together intelligence gathered from various sources in the aftermath of Barahoti transgression, officials in the know said that at least three sorties of the aircraft, which is designed by the Chinese companies on the basis of technology from the erstwhile USSR, was carried out in last three months.
It has an SAR which can provide high-resolution pictures even in inclement weather or in night time. The systems take advantage of the long-range propagation characteristics of radar signals and the complex information processing capability of modern digital electronics to provide high resolution imagery.
The information about the flight was shared during exchanges with foreign intelligence agencies, the sources said.
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At least 20 to 25 Chinese troops had entered into the demilitarised area in Barahoti pastures in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand earlier this month, besides flying its helicopters in the Indian air space for over five minutes.
Barahoti is one of the three border posts in the 'middle
sector' comprising Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand where ITBP jawans are not allowed to take their weapons as per the unilateral decision of the then government in June, 2000.
In 1958, both the countries listed Barahoti, an 80-square KM sloping pasture, as a disputed area where neither side would send their troops. In 1962 war, Chinese PLA did not enter the 545-KM middle-sector and focused on Western (Ladakh) and Eastern (Arunachal Pradesh) sectors.
During prolonged negotiations on resolving border dispute, the Indian side had unilaterally agreed in June, 2000, that ITBP troops would not be carrying arms to the three posts -- Barahoti, Kauril and Shipki in Himachal Pradesh.
The ITBP men do patrolling in civil dress and the pasture attracts Indian shepherds from the border villages tending their sheep and people from Tibet bringing their yaks for grazing.