The IL-76MD, a four-engine Russian-origin turbofan military transport aircraft also known as Ganjraj, landed at an airfield in Nyoma at an altitude of 4,154 metres above sea level, close to the frontier with China.
“An Indian Air Force IL-76MD has scripted history with a successful landing at Nyoma, marking the highest-altitude landing ever achieved by the aircraft anywhere in the world,” the IAF said in a statement.
Images shared by the Indian Air Force on social media showed the aircraft landing and taking off from a runway surrounded by barren mountains in the cold desert region. Temperatures in the area can drop to minus 20 degrees Celsius.
The military airfield at Nyoma was completed last year as part of India's efforts to strengthen military infrastructure in the strategically important Himalayan region.
The development follows a deadly border clash between Indian and Chinese troops in 2020, which resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers.
India and China have long competed for influence in South Asia. Relations between the two countries have gradually improved since the 2020 clash, with political contacts resuming at the highest levels.
However, deep distrust remains between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Both countries continue to maintain military deployments along their approximately 3,500-kilometre high-altitude border near Tibet due to unresolved territorial disputes.
