The Indian Air Force will hold large-scale military drills, or war games, in Rajasthan - along the international border with Pakistan - a NOTAM, or Notice to Airmen, issued this evening said.
The drills will begin at 9 pm on Wednesday and end at 3 am Friday, during which time flights departing or landing at airport close to the border will be suspended. The Indian Air Force said it is conducting a "pre-planned routine training exercise."
The games have been seen as India flexing its military muscles amid tension with Pakistan over last month's Pahalgam attack.
The war games will also take place as states conduct 'civil defence' drills - to ensure effective civilian response in case of hostile military action - across India. Civil defence preps of this kind have not been seen since the 1971 war with Pak and will take place at nearly 300 locations, including Delhi.
READ | Fire Drills In UP, Air Raid Sirens In Jammu: How States Are Preparing
A 'civil defence' district refers to a geographical area having an armed forces facility or significant economic or public infrastructure, such as an oil refinery or a nuclear plant.
Hours earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval - for the second time in as many days - as speculation continues over Delhi's military response.
READ | NSA Doval Meets PM Amid Tension With Pakistan Over Pahalgam Attack
The PM has held multiple meetings with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Mr Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, and the Army, Navy, and Air Force chief since the attack.
Last week, at one such meeting, PM Modi reportedly gave the military 'complete freedom' to plan and execute an armed response to the Pahalgam terror incident.
Pak, India Test Fire Missiles
On Monday Pak said it had successfully test-fired Fatah - a homemade surface-to-surface missile with a range of up to 120 km. The test, Pak media said, was "aimed at validating the design and performance features" and was part of a larger military drill called Exercise INDUS.
The name of Pakistan's war games was an unsubtle hint; Islamabad had reacted angrily to Delhi suspending the IWT and cutting water supply to Pakistani farms, calling it "an act of war".
The Fatah test-firing was the second in 48 hours by Pakistan.
India, meanwhile, has test-fired an indigenously developed underwater mine with advanced capabilities, including sensors that can detect acoustic, magnetic, and pressure signatures produced by ships.
India also tested missiles last month - five days after Pahalgam.
Twenty-six people, mostly civilians, were shot and killed by four terrorists associated with The Resistance Front, a proxy of the banned Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
India has said it has proof Pakistan was also involved.
READ | Pak 'One Of World's Most Dangerous, Terror Trail In Moscow, London'
In the first round of responses India cancelled visas for Pakistan nationals and suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, or IWT, which divides the Indus River and its five major tributaries between the two nations. The three rivers allotted to Pakistan feed nearly 80 per cent of its farms.
Pakistan then also cancelled visas and declared the 1972 Simla Agreement suspended
Both countries have also shut border crossings and closed their airspaces to the other.
'Evil Will Never Succeed', PM's Vow
The government has vowed vengeance against the terrorists who murdered those 26 people, including a Nepali national, and the handlers who planned and orchestrated the strike.
READ | "Telling The Whole World...": For Warning On Terror, PM's English Switch
After the attack the PM had said terrorism's evil agenda could never win, and delivered a powerful warning to terrorists worldwide, saying his government would track them down and exact justice.
NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.
