Release of Indian pilot delayed
China welcomes ‘peace gesture’ to de-escalate tensions over Kashmir
WAGAH, India — Crowds on the Indian side of the border with Pakistan dwindled late on Friday as the wait for the handover of a captured military pilot dragged on.
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was downed on Wednesday by Pakistani military over disputed Kashmir, had been expected to be released on Friday afternoon.
But as night fell, the wait dragged on and the crowd, previously numbering several thousand and waving flags and singing patriotic songs, dwindled to a few hundred.
Authorities of both India and Pakistan were tight-lipped on the reason for the delay.
Pakistani officials brought the Indian pilot to the border crossing near Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore for handover early on Friday, a “peace gesture” aimed at lowering tensions with its neighbor, after rare aerial raids ignited fears of a dangerous conflict in South Asia.
The pilot has become the face of the crisis.
Thousands of Indians, some waving flags and singing, gathered early on Friday at the Wagah border crossing to give the pilot a welcome after tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad over the disputed region escalated this week to their highest level in years.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Friday afternoon that China welcomed Pakistan’s decision to “express kindness” and hand over the pilot.
“The alleviation of tensions between the two countries serves their fundamental interests. We encourage them to continue to meet each other halfway, take substantive steps toward the settlement of the dispute through dialogue and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability,” he said during a regular news conference.
In New Delhi, the announcement of the pilot’s release was seen as a diplomatic victory, with Indian leaders welcoming his return but announcing they would remain on “heightened” military alert, showing little sign of de-escalating the rivalry.
Abhinandan was shot down on Wednesday after a dogfight in the skies over the disputed region. It sent tensions between the neighbors to their highest levels in years and alarmed world powers, who issued calls for restraint.
“As the prime minister has said, as a peace gesture and to de-escalate matters, the Indian pilot will be released. So today, this afternoon, he will be released at Wagah,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told a joint session of Parliament earlier on Friday.
The lawmakers in both the 342seat Assembly and the 104-seat Senate overwhelmingly passed a resolution which endorses Prime Minister Imran Khan’s offer of talks to New Delhi, saying this is the only way to solve all outstanding issues, including the issue of Kashmir.
Pakistani Defense Minister Perfez Khattak said Islamabad would give a “memorable response” to India if it attacks Pakistan again.
The highly symbolic Wagah crossing gate is famed for hosting an elaborate daily ceremony by Indian and Pakistani soldiers at sundown.
The surging tensions had prompted Pakistan to close its airspace, disrupting major routes between Europe and South Asia and grounding thousands of travelers worldwide.
“We will open our airspace at 6 pm today” for flights at the Islamabad, Peshawar, Karachi and Quetta airports, said Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Aamir Mehboob earlier on Friday.
The rest of the airspace would be opened “gradually”, he said.