"The consequences of the aggravation will settle the diplomats": Pakistan handed over to India the pilot of the downed MiG-21 fighter

The Pakistani authorities handed over to the New Delhi pilot of the MiG-21 fighter, shot down on February 27 during an air battle over Kashmir.

The 38-year-old commander of the aviation unit Abhinindan Vardhaman was transported from the city of Lahore to the only ground border crossing point between the countries - Attari-Vaga - accompanied by a convoy.

It is here that demonstrative changing of the guard takes place every day, during which the border guards of both states march, trying to demonstrate their soles to their opponents, thereby showing disregard for the military of another country. In connection with the transfer of the pilot of the Indian Air Force, the ceremony of changing the guard on Friday, March 1, was canceled.

After the transfer, the pilot was sent for a physical examination. “A medical examination was scheduled as the Air Force pilot catapulted out of the plane,” said Indian Air Marshal Ravi Gopal Krishana Kapoor.

Thus, the promise of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan was fulfilled, who, during a speech before the parliament, said that Islamabad would take this step “as a gesture for peace”. According to him, any differences should be resolved through dialogue.

His point of view was supported by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmud Qureshi. According to him, an armed conflict with India will lead to "mutual self-destruction."

“Pakistan never seeks escalation, never seeks to take a hostile position,” he noted.

Meanwhile, in India give other estimates of what happened.

“It should be understood that Pakistan did not do us a favor by returning Abhinandana. According to the Geneva Convention, a soldier captured during a conflict must be returned, ”said Indian Foreign Minister Vijay Kumar Singh.

A similar point of view was expressed by Amit Shah, the head of one of the leading parties of India - the Bharatiya Janata Party. According to him, the return of the pilot was the “diplomatic victory” of New Delhi.

“The air attack after the terrorist attack in Pulvam led to the isolation of Pakistan throughout the world - this is a victory for our diplomacy. Creating a situation for the return of the pilot Abhinandana in such a short time is our diplomatic victory, ”the politician said.

Recall, February 27 in Islamabad reported that in the airspace over Kashmir there was an air battle between the planes of Pakistan and India. As a result, the Indian MiG-21bis UPG (Bison) was shot down, its pilot was captured. At the same time, according to the Indian television channel NDTV, 24 fighters took part in the battle from both sides. From the Pakistani side - eight American F-16, four each - French Mirage-3 and JF-17 Thunder developed jointly with China. From New Delhi, two MiG-21s participated in the confrontation, as many French Mirage 2000 and four Su-30MKs.

Later, the Vice-Marshal of the Indian Air Force Ravi Gopal Krishana Kapoor also said that the Pakistanis had used the F-16 in the battle and had been shot down by a downed MiG-21. As evidence, a piece of American air-to-air AIM-120 AMRAAM missile was demonstrated.

As noted by Bloomberg, the US State Department is closely monitoring the situation in Kashmir. The publication notes that, according to the agreement, Pakistan can use the F-16 only for counter-terrorism operations, any military actions against other countries are prohibited.

• Pakistani military near the wreckage of the downed MiG-21 Indian Air Force
• AFP

"The consequences of the aggravation will be resolved at the political level"

According to Alexei Mukhin, General Director of the Center for Political Information, the current aggravation in relations between India and Pakistan has reached a sufficiently serious scale, therefore, it is very difficult to predict how events will develop in the future.

“Perhaps the transfer of the pilot will lead to a reduction in tensions between countries, or maybe not. Countries are negotiating and predicting something is impossible. However, there is pressure from the world community, given that both countries are nuclear powers. Here we are talking about the world, not national security. Still, there is no serious threat of nuclear war, because this is not the first conflict between Pakistan and India, which unfolds in this vein, ”the source said.

In turn, the Doctor of Political Sciences, a professor at Moscow State University, Andrei Manoilo, believes that both sides are looking for opportunities to de-escalate the situation.

“The conflict, it seems to me, will not receive further continuation in the military vein. And its consequences will be settled by politicians and diplomats already, ”the expert believes.

According to him, Islamabad and New Delhi are listening to the opinion of the world community.

“The ending of the conflict is the result of the sanity of the Indian and Pakistani military. There was an aggravation, and now the conflict is either growing into a border war, which is developing into a full-scale war, or is subsiding. So, both sides, after they had completed a certain complex of military actions and took all the steps that they could take without turning the conflict into a war, stopped, ”said Manoylo in a conversation with RT.