Ministry of External Affairs confirms that an Indian pilot is missing after his Mig-21 fighter jet was lost while repulsing Pakistani jets after they violated into Indian airspace. “Pakistan claims he is in their custody. We are ascertaining the facts,” MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, adding that Pakistani planes targeted military establishments in Jammu and Kashmir but were forced to retreat.
Pakistan responded to yesterday’s air strike by Indian Air Force jets using its air force to target military installations on the Indian side. The attempts were, however, foiled. The Pakistani F-16 jet that violated the Indian air space in retaliatory fire 3 km within Pakistan territory in Lam valley of Nowshera sector, was shot down.
Civilian flight activity in eight airports in North India — including Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Amritsar, Chandigarh and Dehradun — was suspended although the order was later withdrawn. Pakistan, too, has stopped flights from Islamabad and Lahore.
Pakistan PM Imran Khan has called for dialogue in order to ease the heightened tension between the two nations claiming his country is ready to sit in the negotiating table.
“If a war takes place, it will not be in my or Narendra Modi’s control. If you want any kind of talks on terrorism, we are ready. Better sense must prevail. We should sit down & talk,” Imran Khan said.
“All wars in world history have been miscalculated, those who started the wars did not know where it will end. So, I want to ask India, with the weapons you and we have, can we afford miscalculation?” the Pakistani PM added.
