Wing Commander Abhinandan was in the MiG 21 Bison aircraft which was shot down by Pakistani security forces. However, after safely ejecting from the jet, he fell in PoK and was captured by the Pakistani Army. India has demanded a safe and immediate return of the pilot.
In an op-ed for The New York Times, Bhutto wrote, "I and many other young Pakistanis have called upon our country to release the captured Indian pilot as a gesture of our commitment to peace, humanity and dignity."
"We have spent a lifetime at war. I do not want to see Pakistani soldiers die. I do not want to see Indian soldiers die. We cannot be a subcontinent of orphans."
"My generation of Pakistanis have fought for the right to speak, and we are not afraid to lend our voices to that most righteous cause: peace. But our long history with military dictatorships and experience of terrorism and uncertainty means that my generation of Pakistanis have no tolerance, no appetite, for jingoism or war," she added.
Relationships between India and Pakistan were strained after Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad attacked a CRPF convoy in Pulwama, killing at least 40 CRPF jawans on February 14.
On February 26, India launched an attack on JeM and bombing their biggest training camp in Balakot in Pakistan. The next day, India and Pakistan were involved in a combat with both the sides losing a fighter jet each. On Wednesday, the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that India had lost a jet and a pilot was "missing in action".
I want to put this on record, and I will never change this statement if I go back to India. The officers of Pakistan Army treated me very well, they are thorough gentlemen,#PakistanStrikesBack #paksitanzindabad #PakistanArmy #SayNoToWar #India #IAF #AbhinandanVarthaman pic.twitter.com/ZWWlYXkk9f
— Siasat.pk (@siasatpk) February 27, 2019
Videos later surfaced of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman being attacked by a mob and being saved by Pakistan army. Another video of the pilot sipping tea and answering questions posed by a major in the Pakistan Army was also released. In the video, the IAF pilot said that he was taken care of very well by the Pakistan Army.
A report by The News Minute said that Wing Commander Abhinandan had tried to destroy documents and maps when he realised that he was on foreign soil. He tried to swallow some documents and also soak some in water to make them unreadable.
