After Pakistan released images of the captured Indian Air Force (IAF) wing commander bleeding, Abhinandan Varthaman, the then head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), on the instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, read the riot law to his ISI counterpart and warned Pakistan of serious consequences if the Indian Air Force MiG-21 pilot was damaged.
Wing Commander Abhinandan’s MiG-21 Bison was shot down after successfully intercepting a group of Pakistani fighters over the Line of Control in the Rajouri-Mendhar sector on February 27, the day after the Balakot attack. Before the IAF pilot was ejected from his old MiG-21 hit in the air combat over the skies of Jammu, he shot down a fourth-generation F-16 fighter. He was captured by villagers in Pakistani-occupied Kashmir, where he landed and handed over to the Pakistani army.
The Hindustan Times, after speaking with former air forces, intelligence and politicians, has been able to piece together some of the behind-the-scenes actions in New Delhi and Islamabad that led to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan releasing the Indian fighter pilot.
Prime Minister Khan, who made the announcement in the National Assembly on February 28, called the decision “a gesture of peace.”
Wg Cdr Abhinandan Varthaman returned home on March 1 through the heavily guarded Wagah-Attari border post. In the 60-odd hours he spent in Pakistani custody, the air force pilot became the face of the conflict between the two countries when the Pakistani military released a series of propaganda videos showing him in their custody. In one, he was blindfolded and covered in blood, yet he answered questions from a Pakistani army officer with remarkable composure, calm and dignity.
Shortly after Pakistan released the initial set of photographs of the captive pilot, India decided to act swiftly and decisively to secure his release.
It is understood that after Prime Minister Modi saw images of the bleeding Indian pilot and his smiling captors, he told the Indian intelligence chief to clearly communicate to Pakistan that New Delhi will stop at nothing if Abhinandan is injured and will demand his release. immediate. Prime Minister Modi’s message to Pakistan was: “Our arsenal of weapons is not for Diwali.”
The message was relayed by then-RAW chief Anil Dhasmana to his then-ISI counterpart, Lieutenant General Syed Asim Munir Ahmed Shah, over a secure line. Dhasmana was so forthright that even the ISI chief was shocked at how the RAW chief was freaking out over the Abhinandan photographs. The RAW chief told him that the consequences will fall entirely on Islamabad if the pilot is touched and must be returned unharmed.
To show that India was serious, the armed forces were ordered to prepare mobile batteries of Prithvi ballistic missiles in the Rajasthan sector. He also rang the alarm bells in distant Washington.
Read also: Military Pak on Damage Control After MP Says IAF Pilot Released in Panic
In his short statement announcing the release of the Abhinandan wing commander in the National Assembly on February 28, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that he tried to speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi the day before, but was unable to do so.
The first confirmation on the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan came sometime before Prime Minister Imran Khan made the announcement. HT learns that the head of ISI, Lieutenant General Shah, sent a secret letter to the head of RAW on the morning of February 28, relaying the decision to release the IAF pilot. PM Modi was briefed on the letter.
The ISI chief was removed from his post in June 2019 after serving just eight months and replaced by a hardline lieutenant general, Faiz Hameed.
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