The officer said that the landing ground could be used for humanitarian relief works and evacuation in case of natural calamities in the region. "The Army is working on the airfield. They should probably be ready in a month's time. Once work is complete, the air force would perform trials on the landing ground," the senior officer said.

The reopening of the Fuckche airbase comes months after the Daulat Beg Oldie airfield, situated in the same region near the Karakoram pass, was reactivated by the air force in May, 2008. DBO, as it is known, is the highest airbase in the world and was reactivated for maintaining supplies to troops posted on the border.

However, the third major airfield in Ladakh along the Sino-India border, the Chushul advanced landing ground, which is located at a height of over 5,000 m, will not be reactivated in the near future. A senior army officer said that reopening the Chushul airbase is yet on the MoD's agenda.

India has been reviving a series of advanced landing grounds and helicopter bases along the Sino India border from Ladakh down to the North East. The armed forces have carried out status reports on reactivating these airbases after directive from the PMO on the feasibility of using them for prompting tourism as well as improving the army's reach along the border.