NEW DELHI: An IAF pilot was captured by Pakistan after an air combat on Wednesday during which the two sides said they shot down each other’s warplanes that followed an unsuccessful attempt to target Indian military installations in retaliatory strikes that sparked fears of war.
The aerial engagement between India and Pakistan for the first time since the 1971 war marked a dramatic escalation of confrontation prompting world leaders to urge the two neighbouring countries to exercise “utmost restraint”.
India said it shot down an F-16 warplane of Pakistan while it lost a MiG-21 during the fierce engagement between the air forces of the two countries along the Line of Control (LoC).
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) summoned the acting high commissioner of Pakistan Syed Haider Shah and demanded immediate and safe return of the pilot identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. It was also made clear to Pakistan that no harm should be caused to the Indian defence personnel, the ministry said, adding it has conveyed strong objection to the neighbouring country at the “vulgar display” of an injured personnel in violation of all norms of International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Convention.
Pakistan detained the pilot following the aerial engagement in which a Pakistani jet, stated to be an F-16, was downed by Indian air defence forces in Jammu region’s Rajouri sector. The IAF also lost a MiG-21 jet in the engagement, an Indian official said. Pakistan has denied losing a jet.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was given an update on the latest security situation by the chiefs of the three armed forces following violation of Indian airspace by Pakistani fighter jets in Jammu and Kashmir and the capture of the Indian pilot across the LoC, sources said.
A day after India bombed Jaish-e-Mohammed’s (JeM) biggest training camp in Pakistan, it was a day of hectic developments moving with dizzying rapidity. Three Pakistani fighter jets entered Indian air space at 9:58 am to target key military installations in Rajouri and Naushera in Jammu and Kashmir, as part of the retaliatory strike, official sources said. Though three Pakistani jets violated Indian air space, the package of the aircraft deployed by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) for the operation was “significantly large” as it comprised a fleet of JF-17 and F-16 combat aircraft, the sources said. The sources said the Pakistani jets targeted Indian army’s bases in Krishna Ghati and Nangi Tekri and an ammunition point in Narian. However, the bombs dropped by the Pakistani jets fell in uninhabited areas.
Minutes after Pakistani jets violated Indian air space, the IAF’s Combat Air Patrol (CAP), comprising MiG-21 and other jets engaged with the enemy aircraft, successfully thwarting their attempts to bomb a number of key military installations in Naushera and Rajouri, they said.
Jammu and Kashmir was the centre of much of the action on a day of escalating tensions between the two neighbours.
In a terse press statement earlier in the day, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, accompanied by Air Vice Marshal R G K Kapoor, said, “Pakistan has responded this morning by using its air force to target military installations on the Indian side. Due to our high state of readiness and alertness, Pakistan’s attempts were foiled successfully.” He said the Pakistan Air Force activity was detected and the Indian Air Force responded instantly. “In that aerial engagement, one Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft was shot down by a MiG-21 Bison of the Indian Air Force. The Pakistani aircraft was seen by ground forces falling from the sky on the Pakistan side.
“In this engagement, we have unfortunately lost one MiG-21,” he said.
Targets changed to avoid loss of life: Pak
Islamabad claimed it hit back at India by bringing down two Indian military aircraft, one of which crashed in Pakistan occupied Kashmir(PoK) while the other fell in Jammu and Kashmir.
“This morning PAF (Pakistan Air Force) jets while remaining in Pakistani airspace engaged six targets across the LoC,” Pakistan military spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor told reporters in Islamabad.
“Our pilots locked on those six targets and we struck in open places,” he said, adding that it was decided that the PAF will not hit the military targets. He said some of the targets were in Bhimber galli and Naran area where the supply depots were engaged from a distance.
“After the PAF strikes, 2 IAF jets entered Pakistani airspace and the PAF took them on and the two IAF jets were shot down. The wreckage of one (aircraft) fell inside Pakistan (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) while the second fell inside India.”
“Original targets were military posts and administrative facilities but we did not target those,” he said. The spokesman claimed that targets engaged by the PAF were changed to avoid any loss of life. “It was not retaliation in the true sense but it was an action to show that we can retaliate. We do not want to push the region to war. We want peace.” (PTI)
