Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday evening announced that Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by his country on Wednesday after a series of airborne clashes with India, will be released on Friday. The announcement comes even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not yet broken his silence on the subject.
Tweets praising Imran Khan’s “gesture for peace” flooded the internet as soon as the decision to release Varthaman was announced.
We in India may not like this, but in terms of pure optics, @ImranKhanPTI at the moment is winning the day by taking the moral high ground .. we have a strong case on terror but too many of our leaders busy calculating votes at the moment..
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) February 28, 2019
Imran Khan really has taken leadership over the process. Impressive in his first major crisis. Modi absent
— Bruno Maçães (@MacaesBruno) February 28, 2019
Never seen a Pakistani PM so outplay an Indian PM so completely.
— Krishan Partap Singh (@RaisinaSeries) February 28, 2019
Not many will like this but @ImranKhanPTI knows how to steal the headlines.
— Harinder Baweja (@shammybaweja) February 28, 2019
Shortly after the announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awards for outstanding work in science and technology. Although the Bharatiya Janata Party tweeted a cryptic bit of Modi’s speech (“The pilot project has been completed. It has to be made real, this was just practice”) that was aimed to be a comment on Pakistan’s announcement, there were many users who criticised the prime minister for being busy with an award function instead of addressing the ongoing India-Pakistan crisis.
Govt caught completely unawares by Pak PM Imran Khan's 'Peace Gesture' of releasing Wing Commander #AbhinandanVartaman. PM Modi busy at an award function. Armed forces reschedule press conference. No one with any honesty can spin this in govt's favour. #WelcomeBackAbhinandan
— Aditya Menon (@AdityaMenon22) February 28, 2019
On Thursday morning, Modi addressed BJP workers at 15,000 locations via video conference. During his address, he made some veiled references to India’s security, while attacking the Opposition, but did not address the subject directly.
Full credit to @ImranKhanPTI for being the bigger PM and taking the initiative for peace by announcing the release of #Abhinandan.
— Tenzing Lamsang (@TenzingLamsang) February 28, 2019
Another PM was busy addressing a domestic political rally and taking prepared questions about how dastardly Congress is and how great BJP is.
But there were others who thought the credit for Varthaman’s release belonged to the Indian prime minister, calling it a “diplomatic victory”.
Breaking: IAF Wing Commander #Abhinandan to return home tomorrow!
— Eshaan | ईशान 🇮🇳 (@EshaanSG) February 28, 2019
Pak kneels before India.
This is a diplomatic Victory for us, But this is just a start, I think we shouldn’t stop till either Terror or Pakistan are purged out of existence!#WarOnTerror#WelcomeHomeAbhinandan pic.twitter.com/ovMgpGj6hN
Do not fall for psy ops. This is a short term move. Handing over our Pilot is not a "peace gesture" and no need to thank @ImranKhanPTI
— Ashu (@muglikar_) February 28, 2019
The country is a den of snakes. State sponsored terror is bleeding India since decades.
Pakis are shit worried.
In summary, they killed 46 soldiers in #Pulwama and got away with it because they are releasing ONE PoW.
— Girish (@GirishNaught) February 28, 2019
As a bonus, Pakistan is suddenly a peace loving nation despite the terrorist networks they finance. What a huge failure for India this is.
To all the liberandus and media on isi payrolls
— Ashu (@muglikar_) February 28, 2019
Modi doesn't speak
He acts
For decades u have danced at ppl who spoke n never acted.
This is New India. Deal with it.
Dear Congressi patrakars & pidis, raat bhar light band kar ke baithna pada, upar se flights band hai & of course, Timatar bhi nahi hai. There's no glory in what Imran is doing. Don't even try to laud him
— iMac_too (@iMac_too) February 28, 2019
Pilot ki waapsi ka saara credit Rahul ji ke netratav me Congress ko jaata hai. Hamne aaj shaam Candle March organise kiya tha, jisse Imran Khan itna darr gaye ki kal hi Wg Cdr ko wapas kar rahe hain. pic.twitter.com/bGWOM9nPSm
— THE SKIN DOCTOR (@theskindoctor13) February 28, 2019
Others pointed to the fact that while the release of the officer was mandated by the Geneva convention, handing over terrorists like Hafiz Saeed or Masood Azhar will be the real gestures of peace.
Peaceful gestsure would be handing over Hafiz Saeed or Masood Azhar.
— Gappistan Radio (@GappistanRadio) February 28, 2019
Before Pakistan announced that it will release the Air Force pilot, United States President Donald Trump had said that he had received “decent news” on the India-Pakistan crisis, adding that “peace is probably going to be happening”.