Pakistan returns pilot downed in India border clash

PAKISTAN last night handed back an Indian pilot shot down during clashes between the two nuclear-armed nations.

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was escorted over the border as a ‘peace gesture’ after being downed on Wednesday in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. However, despite the move hostilities between the neighbouring states continued for a fourth straight day.

In the most serious confrontation in two decades, cross-border attacks were carried out across the disputed Himalayan region. Both countries lay claim to Kashmir, which is split in two by a de facto boundary known as the Line of Control.

In a video message aired on Pakistani television, Mr Varthaman said he was captured by Pakistani forces before being surrounded by a mob of angry locals.

The pilot’s capture and subsequent release followed a suicide attack which killed 40 Indian soldiers in Indian-controlled Kashmir on February 14. Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, had said the handover was a ‘peace gesture’ that could defuse tensions between the countries.