IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman to be back home soon, BSF cancels retreat ceremony at Attari-Wagah border

Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman is expected cross Attari-Wagah joint check-post at around 3-4 pm today, sources have told HT. Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday announced that the IAF pilot will be released as a “gesture of peace”, two days after he was captured across the Line of Control after shooting down a Pakistan Air Force F-16 jet.

India wanted to send a special flight to bring back captured Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman from Pakistan, but the Islamabad denied permission, PTI quotes sources as saying. Late on Thursday night Pakistan communicated that the IAF pilot will be returned through the Attari-Wagah border, 25 km from Lahore.

Also read | Varthamans a MiG-21 family: Son flies it, dad flew it

The IAF pilot will now be flown to New Delhi from the Amritsar airport.

The retreat ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border checkpost between India and Pakistan has been cancelled ahead of the return of the IAF pilot. Amritsar deputy commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon pilot Abhinandan is “more important than the retreat ceremony”.

Hundreds of people are camping at the Attari border in Amritsar since 6 am today with drums, garlands and flags to receive Wing Commander Varthaman. The numbers swelled as the news of his release at Wagah spread.

Also read | Pakistan ignores India’s request to sent back IAF pilot by air: Sources

“We have come here to welcome our country’s hero back home. We will give him a grand welcome. He showed a lot of bravery in the air combat and even after being captured by the Pakistanis,” Jitender, a resident of Amritsar who arrived here with his friends at Wagah told IANS.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced on Thursday that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will be freed on Friday after New Delhi sought his unconditional, immediate and unharmed release signalling a de-escalation in the spiralling tension with New Delhi.

Watch: Parents of IAF pilot Abhinandan get standing ovation in flight

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Khan’s announcement also came amid pressure from New Delhi and other countries to act against terror emanating from his country.

The 35-year-old Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was flying the MiG-21 Bison that shot down the PAF F-16 in the aerial engagement with Pakistan on Wednesday morning.

Wing Commander Abhinandan will be brought by Pakistani authorities from Rawalpindi to Lahore and handed over first to the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) under rules of the Geneva Convention before being brought to the check post to return home.

Also read: Happy officer will return, Pak gesture in line with Geneva Convention, says IAF

Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor had said at a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday that in the aerial combat that ensued on Wednesday morning one F-16 of the Pakistan Air Force was shot down by IAF’s MiG 21 Bison aircraft flown by Wing Commander Abhinandan.

“The F-16 crashed and fell across the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Air Force lost one MiG 21 aircraft. Though the pilot ejected safely, his parachute drifted into PoJ&K (Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir), where he was taken into custody by Pakistan army,” Air Vice-Marshal RGK Kapoor said.

The aerial dogfight referred to by the air vice-marshal took place after PAF violated Indian airspace and attempted to target military installations following strike by IAF at a terror camp at Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The terror camp was said to be the biggest run by Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Pakistan has not admitted to either having crossed the LoC on Wednesday or using F-16 jets in the aerial dogfight. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, in his statements, has maintained that PAF jets remained on the Pakistani side of the LoC. He did not refer to the use of F-16 jets.

However, Air Vice-Marshal Kapoor said there was enough evidence to show that F-16s were used in this mission through their electronic signatures. “Parts of AMRAAM, air to air missile which is carried only on the Pakistani F-16s was recovered east of Rajouri within the Indian territory,” he said.

Also read: Parts of Pak’s AMRAAM missile found in J&K: Proof shown at defence briefing

The IAF targeted the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp in a pre-dawn operation on Tuesday. India said the operation was carried out on the basis of “credible” intelligence inputs that Jaish-e-Mohammed was planning to carry out more terror attacks in India.

Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility for the Pulwama terror attack, in which a CRPf convoy was targeted by a suicide bomber on February 14 killing 40 soldiers.