Global Muslim body urges India, Pakistan to talk
Pakistan's foreign ministry says the world's largest body of Muslim-majority nations has adopted a resolution urging India and Pakistan to de-escalate tensions and resolve their issues "through peaceful means."
The ministry said in a statement on Saturday that at the end of a meeting in Abu Dhabi, the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation or OIC "reaffirmed its unwavering support for the Kashmiri people in their just cause."
It said the OIC expressed concern over this past week’s "Indian violation of Pakistani airspace; affirmed Pakistan's right to self-defence; and urged India to refrain from the threat or use of force."
The resolution came a day after Pakistan's foreign minister skipped the meeting to protest the host UAE's decision to invite India, a non-member.
In a separate statement, OIC said it "condemns recent wave of Indian terrorism" and "mass blinding of Kashmiris" in India-administered Kashmir.
India returns body of Pakistani prisoner
India has handed over the body of a Pakistani prisoner who was beaten to death by inmates at an Indian jail last month apparently in retaliation for a February 14 suicide bombing in India-administered Kashmir that killed over 40 soldiers.
It was unclear on what charges Shakir Ullah had been held at the jail.
Pakistani government officials say border guards received Ullah's body on Saturday at the same Wagah border crossing in the eastern city of Lahore from where an Indian pilot was handed over to Indian officials a day before.
Erdogan urges India to respond to Pakistan's 'positive step'
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed Pakistan for releasing Indian pilot, hoping India will "respond to the positive step in the same way".
"It's an admirable step for our Pakistani brothers to release an Indian pilot. Our hope is that our Indian friends will respond to this positive step in the same way," he said.
Erdogan said Turkey is ready to do its part to de-escalate tension between Pakistan and India.
"There is no use in escalating the tension and fueling the fire."
More deaths in Kashmir as India-Pakistan tensions escalate
Indian and Pakistani soldiers again targeted each other's posts and villages along their volatile frontier in disputed Kashmir, killing at least six civilians and two Pakistani troops, officials said on Saturday.
Tensions have been running high since Indian aircraft crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday, carrying out what India called a pre-emptive strike against militants blamed for a February 14 suicide bombing in India-administered Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troops.
Pakistan retaliated, shooting down a fighter jet on Wednesday and detaining its pilot, who was returned to India on Friday in a peace gesture.
Fighting resumed overnight Friday. Pakistan's military said two of its soldiers were killed in an exchange of fire with Indian forces near the Line of Control that separates Kashmir between the rivals.
It marked the first fatalities for Pakistani troops since Wednesday, when tensions dramatically escalated between the nuclear-armed neighbours over Kashmir, which is split between them but claimed by both in its entirety.
Three civilians were killed on each side in the latest escalation.
TRT World's Hassan Abdullah has more from Islamabad.
Friday, March 1
Pilot shot down by Pakistan returns to India
A pilot shot down in a dogfight with Pakistani aircraft returned to India on Friday, after being freed in what Islamabad called a "peace gesture" following the two countries' biggest standoff in years.
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, downed on Wednesday over Kashmir, crossed into India at the Wagah crossing point, hours later than expected and sporting a black eye.
"He was arrested when his military jet MIG-21 crashed in Azad Jammu & Kashmir [Pakistan-administered Kashmir] after being shot down by Pakistan Air Force for violating Pakistani airspace on February 27, 2019," Pakistan foreign ministry statement said.
"While in captivity, he was treated with dignity and in line with international law. Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr Imran Khan announced his return as a goodwill gesture aimed at de-escalating rising tensions with India," the statement said.
Ahead of his release, Varthaman in a video statement released by Pakistani media, lauded Pakistani army and accused Indian media of sensationalising news and misleading people.
"Small issues are presented in incendiary way that misleads people," Varthaman said.
The released pilot will undergo a medical check-up, Indian officials said.
"This check-up is mandated particularly because the officer has had to eject from an aeroplane," Air Vice Marshal R G K. Kapoor told reporters near a border crossing in India's northern state of Punjab.
Pakistan accuses India of 'eco-terrorism', to lodge complaint at UN
Pakistan plans to lodge a complaint against India at the United Nations, accusing it of "eco-terrorism" over air strikes that damaged pine trees and brought the nuclear-armed nations to blows, a government minister said on Friday.
Indian warplanes on Tuesday bombed a hilly forest area near the northern Pakistani town of Balakot, about 40 km from India's de facto border in the disputed region of Kashmir. New Delhi said it had destroyed a militant training camp and killed hundreds of "terrorists".
Pakistan denied there were any such camps in the area and locals said a crow was killed and an elderly villager was hurt.
"What happened over there is environmental terrorism," Climate Change Minister Malik Amin Aslam told Reuters, adding that dozens of pine trees had been felled.
"There has been serious environmental damage."
India bans Kashmir's socio-religious group Jamaat-e-Islami
India has banned a largest social, political and religious group in India-administered Kashmir in an ongoing crackdown against rebels seeking the end of Indian rule in the disputed region.
The ban comes against the backdrop of the most serious confrontation between India and Pakistan in two decades.
India also imposed a security lockdown in several parts of the region on Friday, including in downtown areas of the main city of Srinagar, in anticipation of protests and clashes against Indian rule.
India's home ministry issued a notification against Jamaat-e-Islami on Thursday night, accusing the group as "unlawful association" and supporting militancy in the region.
Police have already arrested at least 400 leaders and activists, mainly from the Jamaat-e-Islami, which seeks self-determination for the Himalayan region, which is divided between India and Pakistan since 1947 but claimed by both in its entirety.
Pakistan to reopen airspace
Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority said airspace closed this week amid tensions with neighbouring India would reopen for commercial flights from 1100 GMT on Friday.
Indian pilot to be released at Wagah border
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said a downed Indian pilot will be handed over to Indian authorities later on Friday in an effort to de-escalate a crisis between the nuclear armed neighbours.
"As a gesture of peace and to de-escalate matters, the Indian pilot who is under arrest with us will be released today in the afternoon at the Wagah border," Qureshi told parliament, referring to the border crossing near Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore.
Thursday, February 28
India welcomes decision to release pilot
Indian military officials said on Thursday they welcomed Pakistan’s planned return of a captured pilot, but refused to confirm they would de-escalate a conflict between the two nuclear powers.
The pilot, identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, became the human face of the flare-up over the contested region of Kashmir following the release of videos showing him being captured and later held in custody.
“We are happy our pilot is being released,” said Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor, at a joint news conference of India’s three armed forces on Thursday evening.
He did not say when asked by reporters if India considered the return a de-escalation in the conflict.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan said the pilot would be released on Friday, to the relief of many Indians, even as his military reported that four Pakistani civilians had been killed by India firing across the disputed border in Kashmir.
“As a peace gesture we will be releasing him tomorrow,” Khan told Pakistan’s parliament on Thursday afternoon. Lawmakers thumped their desks in response.
Turkey, US, China, European Union and other powers have urged restraint from the two nations, as tensions escalated following a suicide car bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Indian-controlled Kashmir on February 14.
Indian PM urges nation to 'fight as one'
A day after cross-border air raids escalated tensions with nuclear-armed neighbour Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India will fight as one nation.
Speaking on Thursday to his party workers across the nation in a video conference, he said the enemy wants to destabilise the country.
"When the enemy tries to destabilise India, then one of their motives is to ensure that India's development is stalled.
"We must show that the nation will not stop. Our soldiers are defending our borders. We must also work like soldiers and continue our work," local broadcaster India Today reported.
"India will live as one; India will work as one; India will grow as one; India will fight as one," he added.
He went on to say: "We must ensure that our enemy should not get a chance to point fingers at us."Pakistan's PM Khan says he will ask Turkish president to help
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said he will ask Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to help defuse tension between Pakistan and India.
“I am going to talk to [Turkish] President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, and I will request him to play his role in this connection,” Khan told a joint session of the parliament summoned after both countries claimed to have shot down each other's jets.
He said his country wants peace and this should not be considered a weakness, adding that he had attempted to contact Indian Prime Minister Modi on Wednesday to call for deescalation.
"Prime Minister Imran Khan is ready to telephone Prime Minister Modi to defuse the ongoing tensions between the two countries," Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told local broadcaster Geo News.
"Is he (Modi) ready for that?" he asked.
Fighting erupts between Indian, Pakistani soldiers
Fresh fighting has erupted between Indian and Pakistani soldiers along the so-called Line of Control that divides disputed Kashmir between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
India's army says Pakistani soldiers are targeting nearly two dozen Indian forward points with mortar and gunfire.
Lt. Col. Devender Anand, an Indian army spokesman, said Pakistani troops later Thursday attacked forward posts along the Line of Control calling it an "unprovoked" violation of the 2003 cease-fire accord.
He said Indian soldiers were responding to the ongoing Pakistani multiple attacks along the highly militarised de-facto frontier.
Anand said shells were also landing in some civilian areas near the frontier. Police said at least two people, an off-duty soldier and a woman, were injured in the shelling.
Pakistani soldiers also attacked Indian positions overnight, the army spokesman said earlier, but described its intensity as "lesser" than previous nights.
He said no casualties involving soldiers were reported so far in fighting since Wednesday night.
Pakistan says will free Indian pilot as 'peace gesture'
Pakistan said it will release a captured Indian pilot in a "peace gesture", taking a step towards rapprochement as clashes between the nuclear-armed rivals ignited fears of a disastrous conflict.
The pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, has become the face of the crisis since he was shot down in a rare aerial engagement between the South Asian neighbours over the disputed region of Kashmir on Wednesday.
"As a peace gesture we are releasing the Indian pilot tomorrow," Prime Minister Imran Khan told a joint session of parliament.
Pakistan willing to return captured pilot
Qureshi said his country is prepared to return the Indian pilot shot down and captured on Wednesday, but only if it helps ease the crisis with its neighbour, India.
"We are willing to return the captured Indian pilot if it leads to de-escalation," he was quoted as saying by Pakistan media.
He added that, as a sign of the crisis easing, India had handed over its file to Pakistan on the deadly suicide bombing in India-administered Kashmir on February 14, which triggered the latest upsurge in tension.Two sides exchange fire overnight
India and Pakistan exchanged gunfire through the night into Thursday morning in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, a day after Islamabad said it shot down two Indian warplanes and captured a pilot.
There were no immediate reports of casualties, though jet fighters roared overhead through the mountainous region as villagers along the so-called Line of Control fled to safety.
Meanwhile, members of Indian Prime Minister Modi's Bharitiya Janata Party called for more military action, suggesting the conflict still could worsen. Modi himself held a teleconference rally Thursday ahead of national elections, warning that "India's enemies are conspiring to create instability in the country through terror attacks."
Khan had called for talks between the two nuclear-armed rivals in a televised address Wednesday, saying: "Considering the nature of the weapons that both of us have, can we afford any miscalculation?"
Both Indian and Pakistani officials reported small-arms fire and shelling along the Kashmir region into on Thursday. However, Indian army spokesman Lt. Colonel Devender Anand described the intensity of the firing as "lesser" than previous nights.
Pakistan's airspace remained closed for a second day Thursday, snarling air traffic.
Schools in Pakistan-administered Kashmir also remained closed.
India demands the release of its pilot
India on Thursday demanded the release of one of its air force pilots who was in a jet shot down by Pakistan's warplanes.
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured by villagers in Pakistan-administered Kashmir after his MiG 21 crashed after being shot.
India's foreign ministry demanded the pilot's immediate release.
The pilot is currently in Pakistan military custody.The international community has continued to urge restraint as the crisis between the countries intensifies.
TRT World's Hasan Abdullah reports from Pakistan's capital Islamabad with the latest.
Wednesday, February 27
Imran Khan offers talks with India after Kashmir clashes
Khan repeats his calls on Wednesday that he is ready to cooperate with India over the Kashmir suicide bombing investigation.
"Pakistan's plan was that there should be no casualties or damage, only to show Pakistani capability," said Khan.
He added, “we need to use wisdom and sense to resolve the dispute with India”.
Pakistan's prime minister stated that both sides can't afford miscalculation with weapons they have and urged "better sense to prevail".
US acting Pentagon chief focused on 'de-escalating tensions'
Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan is focused on de-escalating tensions between India and Pakistan and urged them both to avoid further military action, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, without saying if he had spoken with his counterparts from either nation.
In a statement, the Pentagon said Shanahan had spoken with senior US military officials about the situation.
"Acting Secretary Shanahan's focus is on de-escalating tensions and urging both of the nations to avoid further military action," the statement added. Turkey concerned
Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu has called for a de-escalation of tensions and a resolution on the Kashmir conflict.
Cavusoglu said that he has told Pakistan that Turkey is willing to mediate between India and Pakistan.
Turkish foreign minister added that Ankara ready to play its part to ease tension between Pakistan, India.
India says it shot down one Pakistan fighter jet
India says it lost a combat jet and the pilot was MIA while it foiled an attack by Pakistan military planes over the disputed region of Kashmir.
Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said Indian planes engaged with Pakistan jets and brought one of them down.
"In this engagement, we have unfortunately lost one MiG 21. The pilot is missing in action. Pakistan has claimed that he is in their custody. We are ascertaining the facts," Kumar told reporters.
Pakistan has denied losing any of its planes.
Pakistan closes all airspace
Pakistan closed its airspace Wednesday, the country's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the military said, as fears spiked of an all-out conflict with nuclear-armed neighbour India.
The CAA tweeted that it "has officially closed its airspace until further notice", while a Pakistani military spokesman said the decision had been taken "due to the environment."
A CAA source said all airlines had been notified.
India had earlier announced it was closing several cities in India and India-administered Kashmir.Pakistan says it captured Indian pilot
Pakistan says it captured an Indian pilot after shooting down two Indian fighter jets over Pakistan-administered Kashmir. He is in hospital for medical treatment, army spokesman said.
Pakistan’s state media Wednesday published a video showing the pilot. It showed a blindfolded man in an Indian Air Force uniform, his face bloodied, with his hands tied behind him, as a soldier interrogates him.
He gave his name, rank and serial number and when pressed for further information says, “I am not supposed to tell you that.”
In a photograph, which has also been confirmed by security sources, the pilot can be seen flanked by Pakistani military personnel.
Pakistan 'does not want war' - military spokesman
Pakistan military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said Pakistan does not want to escalate its crisis with India, nor does it want to go to war. He also discredited Indian media reports of Wednesday morning's incident.
"Indian media says a Pakistani F-16 was downed - but Pakistan has not used any F-16s so far, nor has any been shot down," Ghafoor said.
"Army, government and people of Pakistan have always conveyed a message of peace. Both countries have the capacity, but war is the failure of policy. Showing our will and resolve, we do not want to escalate and want to follow a path of peace. Nothing is solved through war and no conflict has ever been settled through war."
He added that the action Pakistan has taken is in "self defence."
"It is up to India now to go the way we have gone. Which is the way of peace. If they respond with aggression, we will be forced to respond," he said.
