Pakistan PM to return India pilot in peace gesture
Print Edition
Pakistan will return a captured pilot 鈥渁s a peace gesture鈥 to India, Prime Minister Imran Khan said yesterday, amid efforts to defuse a crisis between the two nuclear powers a day after both downed enemy jets.
The pilot, identified by Islamabad as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, became the human face of the latest flare-up following the release of videos showing him being captured and later held in custody.
Khan said the pilot would be released today, even as his military reported that four Pakistani civilians had been killed by Indian firing across the disputed border in Kashmir.
鈥淎s a peace gesture we will be releasing him tomorrow,鈥 Khan told parliament.
Khan鈥檚 decision came after several other countries offered diplomatic assistance to de-escalate the confrontation between the two countries that almost went to war in 2002 for a fourth time since their independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
Pakistan鈥檚 Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said his counterpart from Saudi Arabia was expected to visit Pakistan with a special message from Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, who visited both Pakistan and India recently.
Khan has already called for talks with India to prevent the risk of a 鈥渕iscalculation鈥 between their nuclear-armed militaries.
Earlier, US President Trump said he expected 鈥渞easonably decent news鈥 regarding the conflict between India and Pakistan.
鈥淭hey have been going at it and we have been involved in trying to have them stop,鈥 Trump said in Hanoi, where he was attending a summit with the Democratic People鈥檚 Republic of Korea leader.
鈥淲e have been in the middle trying to help them both out.鈥
Russia鈥檚 Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also offered to facilitate talks between the two sides. The US, China, European Union and other world powers have urged restraint from both nations as tensions escalate following tit-for-tat airstrikes in the wake of a suicide car bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Indian-controlled Kashmir on February 14.
Cease-fire agreements
Both countries downed enemy jets on Wednesday, and each accused the other of breaching cease-fire agreements.
Indian and Pakistani troops traded fire along the contested border in Kashmir on at least three occasions yesterday, with the firing instigated by Pakistan every time, New Delhi claimed.
Pakistan鈥檚 military said four civilians had been killed and two wounded in what it called a 鈥渄eliberate鈥 attack by India.
Earlier yesterday, India鈥檚 Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who faces a general election in a matter of months, told a rally of supporters that India would unite against its enemies.
鈥淭he world is observing our collective will. It is necessary that we shouldn鈥檛 do anything that allows our enemy to raise a finger at us,鈥 he said, in his first remarks since the downing of planes on Wednesday.
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