PM Imran Khan announces in Parliament to release Indian pilot

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday announced the release of captured Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman which is another diplomatic victory of Pakistan over India.

Indian Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured Wednesday (yesterday) after Ariel dogfight between Pakistan and Indian Airplanes in response to the violation of Line of Control (LoC) by Indian Air Forces (IAF).

During a joint session of the parliament today, PM khan announced that the pilot is to be released on Friday as a peace gesture.

His announcement is seen as a great gesture in a bid to de-escalate tension between Indian and Pakistan after two Indian fighter jets were shot down on Wednesday following India’s air strike near Balakot inside Pakistan on Tuesday.

At the same time, however, the PM also warned India during his speech that the situation with India should not get out of hand otherwise Pakistan will have to retaliate.

Imran claimed that he also tried to call Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday on the phone because ‘escalation is not in our interests nor in India’s.’

Imran reiterated that all issues should be resolved through dialogue. “Despite us opening the Kartarpur corridor, we received no response from India,” he said.

Now once again, Pakistan is waiting for India’s response on Imran’s renewed offer to hold talks.

“I have a feeling that the Indian public does not agree with the current government’s warmongering,” he told the parliament.

“I want to tell this august house, Pakistan desires peace. Pakistan intends to work for poverty alleviation, investment, and job creation. We do not intend war. In our desire of peace, I announce that tomorrow, and as a first step to open negotiations, Pakistan will be releasing the Indian Air Force officer in our custody.

“Two nations with weapons of mass destruction should not divulge on the path of war. I seek peace with India.

“We tried to resolve issues through dialogue to lower tensions between both countries. India started blaming Pakistan 30 minutes after Indian soldiers were targeted in Pulwama district of Occupied Kashmir.

“I immediately offered India to provide actionable evidence because we have vowed not to allow our soil to be used against any other country. Unfortunately, war hysteria started booming in India.

“I was informed around 3:30am about Indian act of aggression. I talked to Army Chief and Air Chief and discussed how we should respond. As a responsible state, we did not retaliate immediately to avoid escalation.

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