NEW DELHI, Jan. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- The Indian armed forces have launched its biggest peacetime relief operations in the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands through Myanmar, the Indo-Asian News Service reported Tuesday.

    For the first time in 15 years, Indian helicopters flew to Yangon, capital of Myanmar, to make the shortest possible flight to Port Blair in the tsunami-devastated Indian archipelago, Air Marshal S.K. Malik, deputy chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF), told reporters here Tuesday.

    Malik, who returned here after a two-day visit to the islands, said the IAF revived the Myanmar route to reach the Andamans as itdid not want to transport the helicopters on its Il-76 aircraft, which were being used to fly relief materials to the islands.

    "Using the Il-76 to carry the helicopters would have hindered the movement of relief equipment," he said, explaining that six helicopters stopped at Yangon for refueling before making about anhour's flight to Port Blair.

    "We spoke to the Myanmar authorities, who allowed the journey in the backdrop of the natural calamity that struck the islands," Malik said.

    Bilateral relations between New Delhi and Yangon have been warming up in the last few years.

    In October last year, Myanmar pledged that Yangon would not letIndian rebels operate from its soil. Two months later, the Myanmar's military launched an operation against anti-India insurgent groups, said the Indo-Asian News Service.

    The IAF, however, has had to defer a training exercise following the tsunami with its frontline Su-30 and Jaguar aircraftfrom the airbase on the Car Nicobar Island in the Indian archipelago.

    The exercise scheduled for Monday was put off since the runway at the vital airbase had developed cracks due to the earthquake and to the movement of the Il-76 heavy transport aircraft.

    "It will take about a week to repair the runway but to rebuild other infrastructure, it might take anywhere between a year or two," said Malik.

    The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which spread over a vast area of about 1,100 square kilometers, are the worst-hit areas in Indiain the unprecedented tsunami disaster.

    It was reported that the islands have witnessed the largest ever relief effort made by the Indian central government in the past week.

    The Home Ministry Sunday said the total deaths of the Indians killed in the tsunami waves stood at 9,451 and that 5,511 people were still missing. Enditem