Three weeks after the Indian Air Force took up strafing of the Kargil heights, the initial euphoria of what seemed like a quick solution to an eruption across the LoC, now promises to become a long-drawn out affair.

rediff.com requested Air Chief Marshal A Y Tipnis, Chief of the Air Staff, to kindly depute a senior IAF officer to discuss the air strikes and the Kargil conflict on The Rediff Chat, for the benefit of our worldwide audience.

We are happy to inform you that the Air Chief has kindly asked Group Captain D N Ganesh, Joint Director, Concept Studies, Warfare Systems Applications and Information Technology, to appear on The Rediff Chat every Monday for as long as the Kargil operations continues, to enlighten the world on how the Indian armed forces are bravely fighting the enemy in the icy heights of the Kargil mountains.

Group Captain Ganesh was commissioned in December 1972 into the IAF's fighter stream. He has flown all variants of MiG fighter aircraft and is a Qualified Flying Instructor, a Fighter Combat Leader, an Instrument Flying Instructor as well as a Fighter Controller. He is an alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College, one of the most prestigious inter-service institutions, from where he graduated with an outstanding grading, one of the few officers to do so.

He has written many professional papers which have been well accepted by the IAF. He is also well aware and forward thinking in the fields of information technology and warfare, and his proposals in this regard have been well received.

The group captain has successfully commanded a MiG-27 fighter squadron and a radar station before his present appointment at Air Headquarters.

Don't forget to join Group Captain Ganesh, every Monday on The Rediff Chat.

This Monday, June 21, he will be on the Rediff Chat at 1800 hours IST (0830 hours EDT).

EARLIER CHAT TRANSCRIPT:
'We have no desire to enter Pakistan'