The scene of the crash of two Indian military planes on January 28 – Photo: HINDUSTAN TIMES
Newspaper Hindustan Times India’s Air Force said it was investigating whether the planes collided in mid-air.
According to initial information, the Su-30 carried two pilots and the Mirage had one pilot.
Police at the scene said they had found one pilot dead, but had yet to locate the other plane, which is believed to have crashed further, according to AFP news agency.
Both planes took off in the morning from Gwailor Air Force Base, about 50km east of the crash site.
Police officer Dharmender Gaur told AFP from the scene of the crash, Morena district said: “We have identified debris from one of the planes and found an injured pilot in the Pahadgarh forest.”
“The other plane likely crashed far from the site and we have sent search teams to locate it,” Gaur said.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan wrote on Twitter that he had directed the local government to cooperate with the air force in the rescue work. “I pray miracles will come to the pilots,” Premier Chouhan wrote.
This is the latest in a series of air accidents involving India’s fleet of military aircraft.
In October, five Indian servicemen died when their helicopter crashed in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, near India’s military zone and its disputed territory with China. It was the second plane crash in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in October. The previous crash the same month killed the pilot on board.
Indian Chief of Defense Staff General Bipin Rawat was one of 13 people who died when a Russian-made Mi-17 helicopter crashed while transporting him to an air base in December 2021.
The government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on the urgent task of overhauling the outdated infrastructure of the Indian armed forces in the face of growing Chinese assertiveness along the wide border area. large in the Himalayas.
In 2019 border conflicts involving deadly confrontations between the militaries of the two countries resulted in a diplomatic freeze between China and India.
India unveiled its first domestically built aircraft carrier last year as part of a government effort to build up its domestic defense industry and reduce its reliance on Russia, a key arms supplier. most important in this country.