Pakistani troops agree to hand over captured pilot as "peace gesture" | Chronic

The Indian pilot captured Wednesday by Pakistan after an aerial battle was made public on Friday and handed over to the Indian authorities under the "peace gesture"which suggests that the tension between Islamabad and New Delhi may be reduced after days of military escalation.

After almost four hours of delay and between high expectations of the media and ordinary citizens, the commander of the Indian Air Force, Abhinandan Varthaman He crossed the Wagah-Attari border crossing during the night and went to Indian territory.

Indian television channels showed the plainclothes pilot, accompanied by a Pakistani diplomat and escorted by three soldiers, while the door that separated him from India was just a few meters away.

After waiting several minutes, Varthaman started walking and crossed the ditch. "The captured Indian flight commander, Abhinandan Varthaman, was sent back to India today and was arrested while his MIG-21 fighter crashed in Kashmir after being shot by Pakistani air force for violating Pakistani airspace "confirmed the Pakistani Foreign Ministry in a statement.

The ministry insisted that the pilot be treated "with dignity and in accordance with international law" during his captivity, which concluded as "peace gesture" of the Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan.

"Welcome home, Commander Abhinandan, the country is proud of your exemplary courage.Our armed forces are a source of inspiration for 1.3 billion Indians," said Indian Prime Minister on his behalf Twitter. Narendra Modi, quoted by the EFE news agency.

Many now hope that after the pilot's release, tensions between India and Pakistan will be reduced. Since Tuesday, Indian fighters have bombed the Pakistani territory.

The bomb attack targeted an alleged military camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM), a terrorist group that claimed responsibility on 14 February for the Indian Kashmir attack, in which 42 police officers were killed. the worst attack in the region in three decades

The following day, Pakistani fighter jets bombed Indian territory without causing casualties or damage, resulting in an aerial battle in which Pakistan claimed to have overthrown two Indian fighters, while India reportedly shot down One of them and would have lost another.

It is at this moment that the Indian pilot has been captured. Since last Thursday, and despite the announcement of the release of the pilot, the escalation of the war has reached a verbal level with the badurance of both armed forces that they are ready to react to any provocation.

India has repeatedly accused Pakistan of authorizing and sponsoring the presence on its territory of terrorist groups aimed at attacking Indian targets and giving more vigor to separatist demonstrations among the Kashmiri population.

The Kashmir region, divided between the two nuclear powers, has been the subject of a dispute since the partition of the Indian subcontinent after independence from the British Empire in 1947.