‘Hope he will return home soon,’ Rahul Gandhi on missing IAF pilot

An IAF pilot who engaged Pakistani jets that violated Indian airspace Wednesday morning was reported missing in action.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi has expressed hope that the missing Indian Air Force pilot returns home soon.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the Opposition parties' meeting to discuss the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) and chalk out future strategy for the Lok Sabha polls, at Parliament House complex in New Delhi, Wednesday. (PTI)

“I’m sorry to hear that one of our brave IAF pilots is missing. I hope he will return home soon, unharmed. We stand by our armed forces in these difficult times,” he tweeted hours after the government confirmed that one pilot who engaged Pakistani jets that violated Indian airspace Wednesday morning was missing in action.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India is verifying Islamabad’s Pakistani claims.

Pakistan had earlier said its air force shot down two Indian fighter jets on Wednesday morning and claims to have captured two Indian Air Force pilots. One of them is in hospital, Pakistan’s military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said.