Indian Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has been returned to India after being captured and held in Pakistan. Photo / Supplied
Indian Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has been returned to India after being captured and held in Pakistan. Photo / Supplied
Crowds gathered on India's border are celebrating the release of air force pilot Abhinandan, after his capture escalated tensions between the rivals.
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.
The Indian air force pilot's return was pushed back by several hours. Authorities on both sides were tight-lipped on the reasons for the delay.
Varthaman was shot down on Wednesday over the tinder box disputed region of Kashmir, divided between India and Pakistan since 1947.
This came after Indian warplanes launched a strike inside Pakistani territory, claiming to have hit a militant camp in the first such aerial raid since their last war in 1971.
The strike followed a massive suicide bombing that killed 40 Indian troops on February 14, with the attack claimed by a Pakistan-based militant group.
Violence meanwhile continued to rage in Kashmir on Thursday and Friday, with both sides firing mortars and artillery over the de facto Line of Control (LoC) frontier, killing at least one woman.
Pakistani officials brought the captured Indian pilot to a border crossing with India for handover on Friday, where he was given a hero's welcome. Photo / AP
Gunbattles between militants and security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir meanwhile left seven dead including four members of the Indian security forces, two militants and one civilian.
Pakistan partially reopened its airspace Friday, the aviation authority said, after thousands of passengers were left stranded worldwide when Islamabad shut down air travel as tensions with neighbouring India soared.
A spokeswoman for the Civil Aviation Authority said airspace was "partially reopened", adding that it would be fully restored by Monday.
Earlier, she said flights would be allowed in and out of Pakistan's major airports at Islamabad, Peshawar, Karachi and Quetta only starting Friday, with the rest of the airspace to be reopened "gradually".
Indian army soldiers stand guard outside integrated check post at Atari from where Indian fighter pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was to enter. Photo / AP
Authorities have urged passengers to check for more information with their airlines.
Pakistan's army chief, Qamar Javed Bajwa, spoke with top military officials from the United States, Britain and Australia, Pakistan's military spokesman said, amid a volatile stand-off with neighbour India.
Major General Asif Ghafoor said in a tweet that Bajwa had discussed the stand- off and "its impact on peace & stability in the region" in a call with US CENTCOM Commander General Joseph Votel as well as with top British and Australian military figures on Friday.
Bajwa told them Pakistan would "surely respond to any aggression in self- defence", according to the Twitter post.
Ghafoor said Bajwa had also spoken by phone with the ambassadors of China, Britain and the US.
