Amarinder Singh’s change of plan on IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman’s welcome, cites ‘defence protocol’

Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday announced that the IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman will be released as a “gesture of peace”, two days after he was captured across the Line of Control after shooting down a Pakistan Air Force F-16 jet.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who yesterday tweeted a request to the Prime Minister offering to receive Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman when he returns home from captivity in Pakistan, today said he won’t be going to Wagah to receive the Indian Air Force pilot citing “defence protocol”.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has yesterday requested PM that he be allowed to receive Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman at Wagah.(AFP)

The chief minister said that he thought it over and came to the conclusion that it might contravene the protocols laid out for such cases. When any PoW from the 1965 or 1971 war came back, he was first sent for medical examination, followed by a debriefing, which was likely to be the case with Wing Commander Abhinandan too, he noted.

“I would have loved to go, since both he and his father were from the National Defence Academy, like me, and it would have been an extremely happy and nostalgic moment for me to receive the brave officer,” said the Chief Minister in a statement issued this morning .

Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman may cross Attari-Wagah joint check-post between 3pm and 4pm on Friday, sources have told the Hindustan Times. Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday announced that the IAF pilot will be released as a “gesture of peace”, two days after he was captured across the Line of Control after shooting down a Pakistan Air Force F-16 jet.

Pakistan communicated late on Thursday night that the IAF pilot will be returned through the Attari-Wagah border, 25km from Lahore. According to news agency PTI, India wanted to send a special flight to bring him back from Pakistan, but Islamabad denied permission. The IAF pilot will now be flown to New Delhi from the Amritsar airport.

Singh has been camping in the border areas of the state for the last three days as part of the confidence-building exercise after the tension at the Line of Control (LoC) following the IAF’s air strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed camp in Pakistan’s Balakot in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack.

The chief minister extended a very warm welcome to Wing Commander Abhinandan, saying the whole nation was proud of the way he stood up to questioning by Pakistan’s armed forces during his captivity.

“It was top-class and I congratulate him and welcome him back home,” he said.

Amritsar’s deputy commissioner Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon has said that the Beating the Retreat ceremony at Attari-Wagah border, where hundreds of people have gathered to welcome the IAF pilot, will not be held on Friday in view of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman’s return.