Indian pilot was captured after Pakistan Air force shot down two Indian fighter jets. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB
Captured Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has been transported to the Wagah Border ahead of his repatriation to India.
His return is a goodwill gesture from Pakistan aimed to de-escalate rising tensions with India.
Official formalities, including the signing of necessary documents and a medical examination by the International Committee of Red Cross have been completed reportedly.
India has reportedly cancelled the flag-lowering ceremony on the border.
Abhinandan was captured when his jet crashed in Azad Kashmir after being shot down by the Pakistan Air Force for violating Pakistani airspace on February 27. He was rescued by the armed forces from a local mob chanting anti-India slogans.
People and media gather before the arrival of captured Indian Air Force pilot near Wagah border, on the outskirts of the northern city of Amritsar, India, March 1, 2019. PHOTO: REUTERS
The move came after Prime Minister Imran Khan announced Islamabad will release the captured pilot as a gesture of goodwill and to stress that Pakistan wanted peace. He asserted that Pakistan’s desire for de-escalation should not be confused as weakness.
While in captivity, the IAF pilot was treated with respect and dignity by the Pakistani armed forces, a fact that the captured pilot acknowledged in a video released by the ISPR.
Tensions escalated dramatically between Pakistan and India on February 14 when a young man – a native of Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) – rammed an explosives-laden car into an Indian military convoy, killing at least 44 soldiers.
India was quick to blame the state of Pakistan for the suicide bombing.PM Imran offered every possible help in the investigation, but India turned down the offer and whipped up war hysteria.
On February 26, the Indian Air Force violated Pakistani airspace. The country’s top civil and military leadership declared the violation of airspace by Indian fighter jets “uncalled for aggression” and decided that the country would respond at a “time and place of its choosing”.
On February 27, Pakistan announced it had shot down two Indian fighter jets that attempted to violate its airspace and captured an Indian pilot. The military’s media wing later released a video of the pilot, who introduced himself as Wing Commander Abhinandan bearing service number 27981.
Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor said in a press conference that the armed forces had responsibly retaliated to Indian incursion by strucking a target few miles from an Indian military’s administrative unit to ensure there were no human life or collateral damage.“We decided to not hit a military target or endanger human life. We did not want to retaliate at the cost of regional peace. We do not want escalation,” he told reporters.
Wagah border. -Reuters
A few hours later, Prime Minister Imran Khan took the nation into confidence over the armed forces’ response. As escalating tensions fuelled concerns of all-out war between nuclear-tipped Pakistan, Imran warned of catastrophic consequences should “better sense” not prevail.The premier ended his speech with another peace talks offer and cooperation in Pulwama attack investigation to India.
On February 28, the Foreign Office said it received a dossier on the Pulwama attack from the Indian government. It added that the government was deliberating whether to treat Abhinandan as a prisoner of war (POW) or apply any international convention.
In the evening, PM Imran addressed a joint session of the parliament and announced that Pakistan would release the captured pilot as a goodwill gesture to de-escalate tensions.
It may be mentioned here that the United States, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), UK and European Union (EU) were involved in both overt and covert diplomacy to find a way out of the impasse between the two countries.
People and media gather before the arrival of captured Indian Air Force pilot near Wagah border, on the outskirts of the northern city of Amritsar, India, March 1, 2019. PHOTO: REUTERS
Wagah border. -Reuters