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New Delhi, April 11: The Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to make its first appearance over Chinese skies this November with a power- packed performance by the acclaimed Suryakiran Aerobatic Team (SKAT).

With defence ties between the countries on the upswing, the nine-aircraft aerobatic team is scheduled to leave for a week-long China tour later this year, and will make its debut at Beijing before heading off to other major cities.

Confirming that the China performance would take place “later this year”, Air Chief Marshal F H Major said the IAF is also open to the idea of conducting joint air exercises with the Chinese Air Force in the near future.

While the Indian Army held its first ever joint exercise at China’s Yunnan province in December last year and the Indian Navy has been regularly conducting basic-level exercises, this will be the first ever interaction between the Air Forces of the two countries.

“All requisite permissions have just been taken from the government, and the team will perform in Beijing and other important Chinese cities in November. The exact dates and schedule are currently being worked out by both sides,” said a senior IAF officer.

The possibility of holding joint air exercises is also likely to come up at the second Annual Defence Dialogue (ADD) between India and China that is scheduled to take place in August. The countries will hold their second joint anti-terror exercise in India in October this year.

Significantly, this will be first time that service aircraft of the Indian Air Force will land in Beijing. The last time an IAF aircraft touched down in China was when an IL 76 transport aircraft landed with the Indian Army team in Yunnan last December.

The countries ended four decades of military isolation last December with exercise “Hand in Hand 2007” — a company-level anti-terror drill between crack Indian troops and special units of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aimed at building “positive military relations”.

The Suryakiran — which made its debut in 1996 — is one of the three renowned nine-aircraft formation-flying teams of the world and has performed across the country besides making appearances across South East Asia including Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. The team operates the Kiran aircraft that is used in a training mode by the IAF.

Its equivalent in the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) is the August 1st Aerobatic team that operates the J 7 GB fighter aircraft — a derivative of the MiG 21. However, the Chinese aerobatic team consists of six aircraft performing formation flying.