NEW DELHI (PTI): Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande on Monday praised the Indian Air Force for its actions in response to the developments in eastern Ladakh in 2020, saying had it not been for the "phenomenal contribution and airlift by the IAF", timely mobilisation of units there would not have been possible.

Gen Pande, who has returned to Delhi after a two-day visit to Ladakh, on Monday addressed a seminar on Army logistics at Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi, and also referred to the eastern Ladakh border standoff that erupted two years ago.

He praised the role of IAF in eastern Ladakh, and said, had it not been for the "phenomenal contribution and airlift by the IAF", timely mobilisation of units in eastern Ladakh would not have been possible.

Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari was present on the dais.

The eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas. Both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry.

The IAF chief during the 89th Air Force Day celebrations at the Hindon airbase last year, had said the IAF's prompt actions in response to the developments in eastern Ladakh in 2020 were a testament to its combat readiness.

Indian and Chinese militaries on Monday moved back their frontline troops to the rear locations from the face-off site of Patrolling Point 15 in the Gogra-Hotsprings area in eastern Ladakh and dismantled temporary infrastructure there as part of a five-day disengagement process.

Gen Pande in his address, also said that if Russia-Ukraine war "showing no sign of ebbing", there are a "lot of lessons" for those concerned, and one lesson that is loud and clear is that pace and reach of military operations lies in synergy, agility and capacity of logistics system.

He also said that multi-domain operations and employment of disruptive technology will be the norm of battlefields tomorrow, and also emphasised on civil-military coordination.