IAF pulls out of multilateral air exercise in the UK amid Ukraine crisis
New Delhi, Feb 26: The Indian Air Force on Saturday decided to pull out of a multilateral air exercise in the UK next month in view of the situation arising out of the crisis in Ukraine, officials said.
The decision to not participate in the 'Cobra Warrior' exercise came just three days after the IAF announced that five Tejas light combat aircraft would be sent for the drills from March 6 to 27 at Waddington in the UK.
The IAF on Saturday morning tweeted that it has decided not to deploy its aircraft for exercise in the UK in "light of the recent events". However, the tweet was deleted later.
Though there was no reason given why the tweet was deleted, officials said the decision to not participate in the exercise stands.
"The IAF is not participating in the exercise 'Cobra Warrior'," said a senior official.
The pull-out came amid a deepening crisis in Ukraine with Russian troops advancing on Kyiv and other key cities.
The decision also came hours after India abstained from voting on a UN Security Council resolution on the Russian military aggression against Ukraine.
Official sources said by abstaining from the resolution, India retained the option of reaching out to all relevant sides to find a middle ground and foster dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the crisis.
On Wednesday, the IAF announced that it will participate in the 'Cobra Warrior' exercise with a fleet of five Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA).
The IAF had said that the exercise 'Cobra Warrior 22' was aimed at providing operational exposure and sharing best practices amongst the participating air forces.
In a statement, It had said that the exercise would be a platform for the indigenously developed Tejas aircraft to demonstrate their manoeuvrability and operational capability.
"The exercise is aimed at providing operational exposure and sharing best practices amongst the participating air forces, thereby enhancing combat capability and forging bonds of friendship," it had said.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
