Captured IAF pilot handed over to Indian authorities
Abhinandan, who had become face of the crisis, was handed back to Indian officials at Wagah border.
WAGAH (Dunya News) – Captured Indian pilot has been handed over to Indian authorities in a “peace gesture” aimed at lowering temperatures with its nuclear arch-rival, at Wagah border on Friday.
Abhinandan, who had become the face of the crisis, was handed back to Indian officials at Wagah border.
Indian Air Attaché Group Captain J.T. Krain had also left with the pilot for New Delhi.
The IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman had undergone a medical test at the Wagah border before being handed over to the Indian authorities.
Teams of International Committee of Red Cross officials were also present on both sides of the border. Abhinanadan was expected to undergo medical examination after he crosses the border.
Indian high commission officials were also present at the Wagah Border with Abhinandan Varthaman.
Abhinandan’s MiG-21 jet was shot down over Kashmir on Wednesday, after a dogfight in the skies over the disputed Himalayan region which sent tensions between India and Pakistan to their highest levels in years and alarmed world powers, who issued calls for restraint.
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Abhinandan’s parents were given a standing ovation by fellow passengers as they boarded a flight to Amritsar near Wagah to welcome their son. The highly symbolic Wagah crossing gate is famed for hosting an elaborate daily ceremony by Indian and Pakistani soldiers at sundown.
Thousands crowded in early on the Indian side Friday, clutching sweets and garlands, playing drums, and brandishing paintings and signs calling for peace.
The surging tensions had prompted Pakistan to close down its airspace, disrupting major routes between Europe and South Asia and grounding thousands of travellers worldwide.
"We will open our airspace at 6:00pm (1300 GMT) today" for flights at the Islamabad, Peshawar, Karachi and Quetta airports, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesman Aamir Mehboob told AFP.
The rest of the airspace would be opened "gradually", he said.
Tensions remained high, however, especially in Kashmir, where both countries fired barrages of shells across the de facto border at one another, leaving at least one dead as the troubled region braces for renewed hostilities.
FM Qureshi, meanwhile, announced he was boycotting a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held in Abu Dhabi, as India had been invited.
The latest confrontation between the neighbours erupted after a suicide bombing in Indian Occupied Kashmir killed over 40 Indian troops on February 14, with the attack allegedly claimed by Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) group.
Twelve days later Indian warplanes violated Pakistani airspace and dropped payload in haste as they were chased by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets.
It was the first such aerial raid since their last war in 1971 - before either country had nuclear weapons.
An infuriated Islamabad denied casualties or damage in the incident, but a day later launched its own incursion across the Line of Control, the de facto Kashmir border. That sparked the dogfight that ended in destruction of two Indian Air Force (IAF) MiG-21 jets, and Abhinandan s capture.
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Analysts said the pilot could prove to be Islamabad’s trump card, but Prime Minister Imran Khan unexpectedly announced Thursday that he would be released a day later in the first sign of a potential thaw.
Khan alluded to the catastrophic consequences of nuclear war and called for talks, even as he warned India should not take the announcement as a sign of weakness.
The last time an Indian pilot was captured by Pakistan, in 1999, the Red Cross (ICRC) met Flight Lieutenant K. Nachiketa at the Pakistani foreign office in Islamabad before escorting him to the Indian high commission overnight.
He left for India that same day.
On Friday a Red Cross spokesman told AFP the aid organisation is "ready to provide any assistance necessary", but so far "is not involved" in Abhinandan’s return.
