Pakistan returns Indian pilot in ‘peace gesture’

WAGAH (India): A pilot shot down in a dogfight with Pakistani aircraft returned to India, after being freed in what Islamabad called a “peace gesture” following the biggest standoff between the two countries in years.

But fresh violence raged in Kashmir, with seven people killed in the Indian-administered part of the tinder-box territory, suggesting that the spike in tension sparked by the death of 40 Indian soldiers in a suicide bombing last month may not be over yet.

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, shot down on Wednesday over Kashmir – divided between the nuclear-armed rivals since 1947 – crossed into India at the famed Wagah crossing point, sporting a black eye from his ordeal.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry said that the pilot was “treated with dignity and in line with international law,” and that his release was “aimed at de-escalating rising tensions with India”.

Thousands of Indians, waving flags, singing and dancing with patriotic fervour, had gathered at the crossing point on Friday afternoon but the crowd dwindled after his release was delayed inexplicably by hours.

Others also danced and shouted slogans in New Delhi.

In India, the experienced pilot’s release was seen as a diplomatic victory, but New Delhi warned that its military remained on “heightened” alert.

On Thursday and Friday both countries continued to fire barrages across the Line of Control (LoC), the de-facto border dividing Kashmir, with a mortar shell killing one woman.

Gun battles on the Indian side left two militants and four members of the Indian security services dead, while a civilian was killed in later protests, said police.

“Influence of terrorists and terrorism has been curtailed and it is going to be curtailed even more. This is a New India,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi, facing a tough election due by May, said Friday.

“This is an India that will return the damage done by terrorists with interest.”

After the pilot’s release, Modi tweeted: “The nation is proud of your exemplary courage ... Hail to the motherland!“

India’s junior foreign minister and former army chief, Vijay Kumar Singh, tweeted that the “welcome” release of the pilot was “the first of many steps that #Pakistan must take to reinforce their commitment to peace”.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule.

Both claim it in full and have fought two wars over the Himalayan territory.