NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD
Indian military officials said on Thursday they welcomed Pakistan’s planned return of a captured pilot, but did not confirm they would de-escalate a conflict between India and Pakistan.
The pilot, identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan, became the human face of the flare-up over the contested claims on terrorist activities in Pakistan.
“We are happy our pilot is being released,” said Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor, at a joint news conference of India’s three armed forces on Thursday evening.
He did not affirm whether India considered the return a de-escalation in the conflict. Tensions escalated following a suicide car bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Pulwama on Feb. 14.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan said the pilot would be released on Friday, to the relief of many Indians. “As a peace gesture we will be releasing him tomorrow,” Khan told Pakistan’s parliament on Thursday afternoon. Lawmakers thumped their desks in response.
The U.S., China, EU and other powers pressurized Pakistan to take this step while urging restraint from the two nations. Khan’s decision to release the pilot came after several countries offered diplomatic assistance to mediate between two countries.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also proposed to facilitate dialogue between India and Pakistan.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said after Khan’s announcement that he had spoken to the leaders of both countries and urged them to avoid “any action that would escalate and greatly increase risk”.
China’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, spoke on telephone with Pakistan’s foreign minister and expressed “deep concern”.
India also pressured Pakistan through the Arab world. Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to India Saud Mohammad Al-Sati met with Prime Minister Modi on Thursday.
The U.S., Britain and France have proposed the United Nations Security Council to blacklist Masood Azhar, the head of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad, the group that claimed responsibility for the Feb. 14 attack. China is, however, likely to be oppose the move as it has been doing earlier.
In 2017, the United States, Britain and France came together with a similar offer. However, on every occasion, the permanent member of the United Nations, China, used veto on it and stalled India’s efforts. This time too, China will be the viewer. It is no secret that China is close to Pakistan.
On 26/2/19, India’s fighter jets hit training camps of the Pakistan-based group who claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, and a senior government source told reporters that 300 militants had been killed.
Pakistan denies this, saying the attack was a failure and no one died, with bombs dropped on a largely empty hillside. It denies any militant camp was in the area. Local people said they had seen no sign of major casualties or significant damage, with only one man known to have been slightly hurt by the bombs.
Asked about the damage caused by Indian warplanes in Tuesday’s air strike, Kapoor said it was premature to provide details about casualties. But they said they had “credible” evidence of the damage inflicted on the camp by the air strikes.
“Whatever we intended to destroy, we did,” he said.
Earlier, the U.S. President Trump said he expected “reasonably decent news” regarding the conflict between India and Pakistan, adding that the United States was trying to mediate.
“They have been going at it and we have been involved in trying to have them stop,” Trump said in Hanoi, where he was attending a summit with North Korea’s leader.
“We have been in the middle trying to help them both out.”
As a precaution amid the increased military activity, Pakistan has shut its airspace, forcing commercial airlines to reroute. Thai Airways International announced on Thursday that it had cancelled flights to Pakistan and Europe, which left thousands of passengers stranded in Bangkok.
Also Read: Flights axed, diverted as India-Pakistan tensions soar
No comments:
Post a Comment