With the specter of all-out war looming, Pakistan announced that it would release a captured Indian pilot on Friday as a “peace gesture.”
In a televised address to Parliament on Thursday, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said the captured pilot would be released as the “first step to open negotiations” in resolving tensions between the two embattled nations.
Despite the overture of reconciliation, Khan warned India not to further escalate the situation, saying that if it did, Pakistan would respond with further force.
“Don’t take this any further, Pakistan will be forced to retaliate,” the prime minister said.
The announcement comes as the two nuclear powers engage in the largest military escalation in two decades, which has included airstrikes, bombings, and exchanges of gunfire along the Line of Control that separates Indian-controlled Kashmir from the Pakistan-controlled part of the region.
Pakistan further exacerbated the conflict when it shot down at least one Indian MiG-21 fighter jet on Wednesday, capturing its pilot and broadcasting images of the man identified as a member of the Indian Airforce.
Although initial videos of the pilot appeared to show him blindfolded and bloodied, Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor, a spokesman for the Pakistan Armed Forces, said he was “treated as per the norms of military ethics.”
There is only one pilot under Pakistan Army’s custody. Wing Comd Abhi Nandan is being treated as per norms of military ethics. pic.twitter.com/8IQ5BPhLj2
— Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) February 27, 2019
The flareup began last week when Pakistani Islamist group Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for killing at least 40 paramilitary police in a suicide bombing of an Indian-controlled Kashmir police convoy. Jaish-e-Mohammed seeks to seize control of Indian-controlled Kashmir and unite it with Pakistan under Sharia law.
India responded to the bombing with airstrikes on a suspected terror base in Pakistan on Tuesday. Since that time, hostilities escalated to the point where international airlines canceled flights into Pakistan and diverted air traffic around the region.
While in Hanoi, Vietnam, to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, President Trump told reporters that despite the two countries “going at it” in recent days, he is confident that the hostilities would be ratcheting down. He also noted the U.S. has been involved in the process.
“So we’ve been in the middle, trying to help them both out and see if we can get some organization and some peace. And I think, probably, that’s going to be happening,” Trump said.
In a joint statement co-chairs of the Senate India Caucus, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va. and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said they condemned the terror attack against Indian police and the capture of the Indian pilot. They urged further deescalation.
“We urge the governments of both nuclear-armed neighbors to step back and avoid further provocative actions while keeping open lines of communication and working to reduce tensions,” they said in a statement on Thursday.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters on Thursday he has spoken with the leaders of both countries and told them to avoid “any action that would escalate and greatly increase risk.”
