NEW DELHI/ ISLAMABAD, Feb 27, 2019 (BSS) – Pakistan today shot down two Indian fighter jets escalating tensions a day after Indian warplanes struck inside Pakistan that reportedly killed 300 militants, prompting leading powers to urge the nuclear armed rivals to show restraint.
International media reports referring to officials in New Delhi and Islamabad said Pakistan shot down two Indian Air Force planes in its airspace in Kashmir early today with Islamabad claims of capturing one Indian pilot.
“PAF (Pakistani air force) shot down two Indian aircrafts inside Pakistani airspace (Pakistan controlled Kashmir),” a military spokesman said.
Pak military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor tweeted one of the Indian aircraft fell in Pakistan-held Kashmir, while the other crashed on the Indian side.
Pakistani state media also released a video purportedly showing a captured Indian fighter pilot being interrogated after his jet was shot down in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir but Indian media quoting an official statement said “all our pilots (Indian) are accounted for” what it appeared to be a denial of the Islamabad claim.
“The Pakistani aircraft was seen by ground forces falling from the sky on the Pakistan side,” he told a media briefing.
Hours later, Indian foreign ministry spokesman Rajeesh Kumar announced that a Pakistan jet was hit as it took part in an operation “to target military installations on the Indian side”. Acknowledging the Pakistani strike India’s premier PTI news agency earlier today said an Indian Air Force jet crashed in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, killing at least one person.
“The jet crashed in an open field near Garend Kalaan village in Budgam at 10.05 am . . . the jet broke into two and caught fire immediately,” it reported quoting unidentified Indian officials.
The report added one body was seen near the crash site but the identity of the deceased could not be confirmed immediately while the fate of the pilots was not known.
In another report PTI said Pakistani fighter jets today violated Indian air space in Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district but were pushed back by Indian aircraft.
“The jets entered into Indian air space over Nowshera sector this morning (but) they were immediately pushed back by Indian jets on air patrol,” the report said quoting a “top official”.
Reports in the afternoon from New Delhi suggested Prime Minister Narendra Modi was meeting with top officials including Advisor Ajit Doval, the Defence and Foreign Secretaries and intelligence officials.
In a related development which appeared to have global media highlight Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called for talks with India and hoped “better sense” to prevail to de-escalate the dispute with its nuclear-armed neighbour following air strikes by both sides.
“We should sit down and talk,” Khan said during a brief televised broadcast to the nation.
He added: “History tells us that wars are full of miscalculation. My question is that given the weapons we have can we afford miscalculation.”
Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, in a visit to China, said earlier New Delhi “wants to avoid any further escalation of the situation (and) will continue to act with responsibility and restraint”.
But in a sign of the deepening crisis, Pakistan closed its airspace “until further notice” while at least six airports were shuttered in India, and a vast area north of New Delhi was closed to civilian flights. while Prime Minister Narendra Modi is meeting with top officials including Advisor Ajit Doval, the Defence and Foreign Secretaries and intelligence officials..
Tensions have been elevated since a suicide car bombing by Pakistan-based militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police on Feb. 14, but the risk of conflict rose dramatically on Tuesday when India launched an air strike on what it said was a militant training base.
New Delhi said the attack targeted militant Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the group that claimed responsibilities for Feb 14 suicide attack killing at least 40 Indian paramilitary policemen in Indian administered Kashmir.
India said a very large number of JeM fighters were killed in the attack which it called a ‘non-military” one adding it had “no intention of escalation”.
“The limited objective of that pre-emptive strike was to act decisively against the terrorist infrastructure of Jaish-e-Mohammed in order to pre-empt another terror attack in India,” news agency AFP quoted Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj as saying during talks in China with her counterparts from Beijing and Moscow
“India does not wish to see further escalation of this situation. India will continue to act with responsibility and restraint,” Sushma said.
In the backdrop of soaring tension, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke separately with the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan and urged them to avoid “further military activity.
“We encourage India and Pakistan to exercise restraint, and avoid escalation at any cost,” he said.
Pompeo said that in talks with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, he stressed “the priority of de-escalating current tensions by avoiding military action, and the urgency of Pakistan taking meaningful action against terrorist groups operating on its soil.”
Both China and the European Union have also called upon both countries to show restraint. On Wednesday, New Zealand’s foreign minister Winston Peters also voiced concern over the escalation in tensions.