A Pakistani opposition leader claimed that Indian Air Force pilot wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman was released after Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told a meeting of Pakistan’s top leaders that India would attack Pakistan.
Recalling the tension in Islamabad after India bombed a terrorist training camp in Pakistan’s Balakot on February 26, 2019, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, criticized the government of Imran Khan for his response, saying that the Opposition has supported the government on all issues, including Kashmir and wing commander Varthaman, but it will no longer be appropriate to provide further support, Dunya News reported on October 28.
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Sadiq, who was president of the National Assembly during the PML-N government, made a similar statement on October 28 in Parliament that Foreign Minister Qureshi, in an important meeting, pleaded with him to allow the wing commander Varthaman will return because India is attacking Pakistan.
The 37-year-old IAF pilot was captured by the Pakistani military on February 27, 2019 after his MiG-21 Bison aircraft was shot down in a dogfight with Pakistani aircraft during air combat.
In the early hours of February 26, 2019, IAF planes bombed the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist camps in Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and avenged the Pulwama terror attack that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF staff members.
Before his plane was hit, Wing Commander Varthaman shot down a Pakistani F-16 fighter. He was released on the night of March 1.
Read also | Abhinandan was not released under any pressure, Pakistan said in 2019.
In a speech at the National Assembly, Mr. Sadiq said that Mr. Khan skipped the high-level meeting, which was attended by top leaders, including the Chief of the Army, General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Mr. Qureshi.
“The legs were shaking and the forehead was sweating, and the Foreign Minister (Mr. Qureshi) told us: ‘For God’s sake, let him (Wing Commander Varthaman) come back now because India is attacking Pakistan at 9pm. evening, ‘”Mr. Sadiq said, recalling the meeting also attended by parliamentary leaders, including those from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and PML-N, adding that“ India did not plan to attack … They just wanted to kneel before India and send Abhinandan back. “
It was not very clear whether Mr. Sadiq was referring to General Bajwa or Mr. Qureshi, whose legs were shaking and his forehead was sweating. He also did not mention the date of the meeting, but indicated that it was held prior to the release of Wing Commander Varthaman.
Timeline | From the Pulwama terrorist attack to the liberation of Wing Commander Abhinandan
Sadiq said he tries not to make any personal attacks, but “when those in power refer to us as thieves or”Modi ka yaar”(Friend of Prime Minister Narendra Modi), we will have to respond.
He also said that those who run the government were not serious people. “The rulers don’t even know the rules of Parliament,” he said.
Sadiq said that the Opposition has supported the Imran Khan government on all issues, including Kashmir and wing commander Varthaman, but that it will no longer be appropriate to provide further support.
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