AIRMAN COMING HOME TODAY
Pilot being released as a goodwill gesture, says Imran Wing Commander Varthaman to cross Attari-wagah border IAF says it welcomes release under global norms
ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday played a gambit for de-escalating tensions with India, announcing the release of a captured Indian pilot against the backdrop of pressure from New Delhi and other countries to act against terror emanating from his country’s soil.
Addressing a joint session of Parliament in Islamabad, Khan said Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, taken into custody when his MIG-21 jet was downed during an engagement along the Line of Control (LOC) on Wednesday, would be freed on Friday as a “peace gesture”.
Tensions between the two sides have spiralled after Pakistan used combat jets to target Indian military facilities on Wednesday, a day after India conducted an air strike on a Jaish-emohammed (JEM) facility within Pakistan. The banned group claimed responsibility for the February 14 terror attack in Pulwama that left 40 paramilitary personnel dead and triggered the latest stand-off.
Khan reiterated recent remarks about Pakistan being forced to retaliate if there were any further strikes by India, though his measured speech was largely devoted to the need to de-escalate tensions between the two countries.
“We have captured an Indian pilot. As a peace gesture, we will release him tomorrow and send him back to India,” Khan said to the thumping of desks by lawmakers. “I say today to India from this platform, don’t take this any further. Whatever you do, Pakistan will be forced to retaliate. These two countries, with the weapons we have, we shouldn’t even think in this way.”
The Indian government is “happy the IAF pilot is being released” though things can move forward only if Pakistan creates the environment by taking immediate, credible and verifiable action terrorists and antiindia proxies operating from its soil, people familiar with developments in New Delhi said.
Before Khan announced the release of Varthaman, the Indian side made it clear that Pakistan would not be allowed to use the captured Indian pilot as a bargaining tool, people familiar with developments said. A demarche or formal diplomatic representation handed over to Pakistan on Wednesday had clearly stated the pilot must be treated humanely and immediately returned, they said. The government was keen to avert any attempt by Pakistan to use the pilot to influence the mood of the Indian people, as had happened in the case of passengers of the Indian airliner hijacked from Kathmandu to Kandahar in December 1999, the people said.
They said there would have been no question of a deal over Varthaman as India had demanded his unconditional return.