A flare up between arch-foes India and Pakistan appeared to be easing on Saturday after Islamabad handed back a captured Indian pilot, amid efforts by global powers to prevent a war between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who became the face and symbol of the biggest clash between India and Pakistan in many years, walked across the border just before 9 p.m. on Friday in a high-profile handover shown on live television.
Shelling on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) that acts as a de facto border in the disputed Kashmir region continued for a few hours after his release, resulting in four deaths, but then stopped overnight, officials said.
Pakistan touted Abhinandan’s return as “as a goodwill gesture aimed at de-escalating rising tensions with India” after weeks of unease that threatened to spiral into war after both countries used jets for bombing missions this week.
The flare up has unnerved global powers, including China and the United States, who urged restraint to prevent another conflict between neighbours who have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.
Tensions escalated rapidly following a suicide car bombing on Feb. 14 that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
India accused Pakistan of harbouring the Jaish-e-Mohammad group behind the attack, which Islamabad denied, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised a strong response.
Indian warplanes on Tuesday carried out airstrikes inside Pakistan on what New Delhi called militant camps. Islamabad denied any such camps existed, as did local villagers in the area, but Pakistan on Wednesday retaliated with its own aerial mission, that led to both sides claiming to have shot down jets.
The stand off came at a critical time for Modi, who faces a general election that must be held by May and who had been expected to benefit from nationalist pride unleashed by the standoff.
Pakistani leaders say the ball is now in India’s court to de-escalate the tensions, though Pakistani army chief on Friday told top military leaders of the United States, Britain and Australia that his country would “surely respond to any aggression in self-defence”.