ISLAMABAD- India and Pakistan can live in peace, an Indian Air Force pilot who was briefly in Pakistani custody in 2019 said in footage released by the Pakistani Army on Saturday.
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured on Feb. 27, 2019 when Pakistan shot down his jet after Indian warplanes crossed the Line of Control (LoC) — the de facto border in Kashmir — and dropped bombs near Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
No casualties were caused by the attack and Pakistan soon released the Indian pilot in a goodwill gesture.
Parts of the video recorded by the Pakistani Army, including Varthaman’s famous praise of the “fantastic” tea he was served by Pakistani officers, were aired already in 2019, but some lines in the footage shared on Saturday, including the pilot’s call for peace, are new.
“I want that peace should prevail, and we (India and Pakistan) can live in peace,” Varthaman said in the video.
“Wars happen when there is no peace. I don’t know what needs to be done to bring about peace, but I do know that there should be peace. And I see no reason for us to continue with any kind of hostilities.”
He added: “What is happening to Kashmiris? Neither you nor I know about it … We should think with a calm mind.”
The newly released footage comes after the military operations heads of Pakistan and India said in a joint statement on Thursday that they had agreed to discuss each other’s concerns that could disturb peace and lead to violence along the Line of Control (LoC).
