By Admin 
The four-day military confrontation between India and Pakistan in May 2025 still remains a topic of discussion. In this conflict, Operation Sindoor launched by India has caused huge damage to many important military bases of Pakistan. The most discussed among these was Noor Khan Airbase located in Rawalpindi, the special thing is that Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar publicly admitted for the first time that Noor Khan Airbase was damaged in Indian drone attacks. After this confession, the question arose in the minds of people that who was Noor Khan, in whose name such an important airbase of Pakistan is built. So let us know who was Noor Khan, in whose name the Pakistani airbase was destroyed by India in Operation Sindoor.
Who was Noor Khan?
Noor Khan was not just an army officer, but he was one of the few. Who have played an important role in the air forces of both India and Pakistan. His life started with the Indian Air Force and has reached the post of Chief of the Pakistan Air Force. Interestingly, in the last years of his life, he openly criticized many military policies of Pakistan. Noor Khan was born in 1923. When India and Pakistan were a single country, he studied at the Royal Indian Military College and was commissioned as a pilot officer in the undivided Indian Air Force (IAF) on 6 January 1941.
At that time, there were very few Indian officers in the Indian Air Force, but Noor Khan was considered a very talented and courageous pilot from the beginning. He took flying training on aircraft such as Westland Wapiti, Hawker Hart and Hawker Audax. During World War II he flew many risky missions on the India-Burma front. His fellow officers say that Noor Khan had a passion for flying and he never shied away from flying the most difficult aircraft.
Selection of Pakistan Air Force after partition
At the time of partition of the country in 1947, Noor Khan had a choice. India or Pakistan, his native region had gone to Pakistan and many of his fellow officers were also going to Pakistan Air Force, so he chose Pakistan Air Force (PAF). His career in Pakistan progressed rapidly and in 1965 he became Air Chief Marshal of Pakistan Air Force. Noor Khan was the chief of Pakistan Air Force during the 1965 war. Later he himself admitted that this war was started by Pakistan and the country was not fully prepared for it. However, he also admitted that in post-war Pakistan, propaganda was promoted instead of truth and an impartial review was never conducted. According to him, if the right lessons had been learned from that war, a major defeat like 1971 could have been avoided.
Noor Khan became a critic of Pakistan’s policies
In the last years of his life, Noor Khan became a major critic of Pakistan’s military thinking. He openly said that the 1965 war was Pakistan’s fault, India had only acted in self-defence. India-Pakistan war was not a war of any religion. He also said that the root of Pakistan’s problems lies in its military thinking and repeatedly adopting the path of war.
Noor Khan Airbase and Operation Vermillion
The airbase named after Noor Khan is a major military base of Pakistan. The Indian Air Force targeted this airbase during Operation Sindoor in May 2025. Now Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has also accepted that this airbase was damaged in Indian drone attacks and the soldiers deployed there were injured. It is, in a way, a paradox of history that decades later, the airbase named after a person who once served the country in the Indian Air Force was targeted by India in a military action.
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