India: Defense minister meets Indian pilot in hospital

CHANDIGARH, India

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.