US says balloon part of PLA's surveillance fleet

The US has concluded that the Chinese surveillance balloon that traversed across its continental territory before it was shot down had signal intelligence and monitoring capabilities and was a part of the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) fleet of surveillance balloons that has conducted similar operations in over 40 countries across five continents.

- Prashant Jha

Even as state department revealed its findings on Thursday, the US House of Representatives passed a unanimous resolution condemning the Chinese Communist Party's use of the balloon as a "brazen violation" of American sovereignty.

Separately, on Wednesday, the Pentagon said that there had been four previous Chinese surveillance balloons incursions into US territory, while secretary of state Antony J Blinken reiterated that the Chinese action was "irresponsible" and that the US had briefed its allies and partners on the issue. HT has confirmed that the state department briefed Indian diplomats in Washington DC on the Chinese surveillance operation and alerted them that India was among the countries that are targets of Chinese surveillance.