Air Chief Marshal Idris Hasan Latif (94), Former Chief of Air Staff, who rejected the offer to join Pakistan Air Force after partition and rose to be the service chief, passed away today in Hyderabad after a brief illness.
Air Chief Marshal Latif was placed as the Chief of Air Staff on 31 August 1978 and he remained in saddle till 1981 when he retired. He subsequently served as the Indian Ambassador to France and the Governor of Maharashtra.
The official website of IAF states that when partition brought about the division of the Indian armed forces, Latif as a Muslim officer was faced with the choice of joining both India and Pakistan. “Even though both Asghar, as well as Noor Khan, called him up to persuade Latif to join them in the fledgling Pakistan Air Force, Latif made it clear that for him, religion and country were not interlinked.
It was no surprise that Latif made his way to become the first Muslim Chief of Air Staff of the Indian Air Force,” the IAF website states. Air Marshal Asghar Khan later rose to become the Chief of Air Staff of Pakistan Air Force and he passed away in January this year in Islamabad.
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The IAF website also mentions that as the Chief of Air Staff, Latif was involved fully in the re-equipment and modernization plans of the air force. He was instrumental in seeking government approval for the procurement of the Jaguar strike aircraft, a proposal which was lying dormant for over 8 years.
He also held negotiations with the Russians and saw the induction of the MiG-23 and later, the MiG-25 aircraft into the IAF. One of the last acts before retirement was to fly in the trisonic MiG-25, which was then just assembled from a semi-knocked down condition by the Air Force personnel.
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