Homecoming for Wing Commander Abhinandan: The possible reasons why Pakistan agreed to return Indian hero

Times Now, 28 February 2019, New Delhi: In a major victory for India’s hard line diplomatic efforts and the Narendra Modi government’s no-nonsense approach towards Pakistan’s illegal capture of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, the braveheart Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot who crash-landed in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) will return to India on Friday.

Pakistan’s prime minister Imran Khan made the announcement on Thursday, describing the move as a “peace gesture”. However, the real reasons for Pakistan’s decision may well lie elsewhere.

Let’s look at what may have forced Pakistan’s hand.

1) India’s stern diplomatic approach

New Delhi made it absolutely clear that no ‘deal’ was in the offing to secure the Indian pilot’s release. The Pakistani establishment was making some noises since Wednesday to the effect that it wanted “peace talks” with India. But India put the onus for the safety of Wing Commander Abhinandan and his immediate and unconditional release squarely on Islamabad. The MEA also took grave exception to the treatment meted out to the Indian officer and the videos of him being manhandled that were released by Pakistan in violation of all international norms and the Geneva Conventions.

2) Pakistan gets global rap for terror

From US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the Saudi Crown Prince, world leaders have put tremendous pressure on Islamabad to end its support to terror and military adventurism – like its aerial incursion into Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday and attempted attack on Indian military facilities. There is now very little global tolerance for Islamist terror – and the February 14 attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama by a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) suicide bomber appears to have finally convinced the international community that it was time to rein in Pakistan’s destructive tendencies.

Interestingly, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al Jubeir carried an “important message" on Thursday from the Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, who had announced USD20 billion in investments in Pakistan earlier this month. The message has reached home. Also, the Hindustan Times reported that Pompeo told National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on phone that the US supported New Delhi’s decision to target a JeM terror camp at Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.  

3) Modi government’s new anti-terror strategy

The February 26 pre-dawn strikes by the Indian Air Force (IAF) -- the first time that India’s fighter planes intentionally crossed the LoC since the Bangladesh war of 1971 – made Islamabad’s Deep State realise that New Delhi’s policy of ‘tactical hesitance’ when faced with terrorism emanating from Pakistan had come to an end. Of course, old habits die hard and future terror attacks plotted and planned by Pakistan’s Deep State cannot be ruled out. But henceforth there will be that added reluctance before giving a green signal to terrorists to create havoc across the LoC. For Pakistan now knows that a military reaction from India is almost inevitable.