ISLAMABAD - Pakistan said yesterday that the incidents of February 26-27, 2019 bore witness to India’s belligerence and jingoism and the tremendous restraint and responsibility demonstrated by Pakistan. Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said the captured Indian pilot was returned as a gesture of peace. In a statement in connection with the fourth anniversary of Pakistan’s befitting response to the airstrikes conducted by India on that day in violation of the international law and the UN Charter, she said: “India must remain mindful of the consequences of its reckless conduct and realize that the Pakistani nation remains ready to fully safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.” At the same time, the spokesperson said, Pakistan was committed to peaceful co-existence and resolution of long-standing disputes. “We also underscore that durable peace in South Asia remains contingent upon peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people,” she said. On 27 February 2019, Indian Abhinandan Varthaman flew a MiG-21 into Pakistan and was intercepted by a Pakistani aircraft and arrested after his aircraft was shot down. Videos and images released by Pakistani authorities showed Varthaman being rescued from a violent mob by Pakistani soldiers. Other videos showed him receiving first aid and being further interrogated over tea. On February 28, 2019, then Prime Minister Imran Khan announced at a joint sitting of the Parliament, that the government had decided to release Varthaman the next day as a “gesture of peace”.
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