Pakistani officials yesterday took an Indian pilot captured from a downed plane to a border crossing with India for a handover, a “gesture of peace” promised by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan amid a dramatic escalation with the nation’s archrival over the disputed region of Kashmir.
The pilot, identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, was taken in a convoy that set out from the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore to the border crossing at Wagah earlier in the day, escorted by military vehicles with troops, their weapons drawn.
On the Indian side of the border, turbaned Indian police officers were lined up along the road as a group of cheering Indian residents from the area waved the India national flag and held up a huge garland of flowers to welcome him back.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The expected handover came against the backdrop of blistering cross-border attacks across the disputed Kashmir that continued for a fourth straight day, even as the two nuclear-armed neighbors sought to defuse their most serious confrontation in two decades.
Tens of thousands of Indian and Pakistani soldiers face off along the Kashmir boundary known as the Line of Control, in one of the world’s most volatile regions.
Tensions have been running high since Indian aircraft crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday carrying out what India called a pre-emptive strike against militants blamed for a Feb. 14 suicide bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troops.
Pakistan retaliated, shooting down two Indian aircraft on Wednesday and capturing a pilot.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s civil aviation authority yesterday partially reopened the nation’s airspace, allowing travel to four major cities, another sign tensions with archrival India were de-escalating.
The agency said that all domestic and international flights would be allowed to and from the cities of Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta.
It said other airports, including the one located in the eastern city of Lahore that borders India, would remain closed until Monday.
Residents of the Pakistani border town of Chikhoti reported heavy shelling on Thursday night and yesterday morning.
More than 200 people had fled to a military organized camp about 20km away from the border.
Indian police said one man was wounded and at least two civilian homes were damaged.
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