By Ahmad Adil
CHANDIGARH, India (AA) - India’s defense minister has visited the pilot downed by Pakistan earlier this week but returned to India on Friday.
Nirmala Sitharaman met Abhinandan Varthaman on Saturday “at his hospital room in [New] Delhi to convey the sentiment of the Nation,” said a Defense Ministry spokesperson on Twitter, calling the pilot an “air warrior.”
Varthaman was held in Pakistan after his aircraft was downed on Wednesday in a dogfight with Pakistani jets along the disputed border with Kashmir.
A day later, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced his release in goodwill gesture in the wake of tensions over a militant attack in Kashmir that killed over 40 Indian soldiers.
Pakistan has rejected India blaming it for the attack.