RAWALPINDI, March 6: Pakistan has made its peace gesture and now the ball is in India’s court, said Pakistan Army spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor.
“It’s up to India whether they take that peace gesture [release of Indian pilot] and go forward towards de-escalation or continue the agenda they have,” he said in an exclusive interview with CNN on Wednesday. The situation will become worse if they decide to escalate the tensions, he remarked.
“We were very close to the war. They [Indian Air Force] violated our airspace under token aggression and we went for a response.”
Tensions escalated between India and Pakistan following a suicide attack on an Indian convoy last month, which killed 40 soldiers in Indian-Administered Kashmir. Indian media and government officials were quick to assign blame to Pakistan for what they said was supporting the Maulana Masood Azhar-led group, the JeM. Pakistan refuted allegations that its government was linked to the Pulwama attack.
On February 27, Pakistani Air Force shot down two Indian Air Force MiG 21 aircraft. One pilot was arrested too. One plane crashed in the Khuiratta sector of Azad Kashmir while one crashed in Indian-Administered Kashmir’s Budgam area. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, an Indian Air Force pilot who was captured after his jet was shot down for violating Pakistani airspace, was sent back to India.-Agencies
