India-Pakistan news: Imran Khan says Pakistan will release captured Indian pilot ‘as a peace gesture’
Steps taken to ease the tensions as Imran Khan calls for talks
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Your support makes all the difference.Pakistan has said it will release the Indian pilot that was captured yesterday as a “gesture of peace”, prime minister Imran Khan announced.
The pilot, who is currently in custody, will be allowed to leave on Friday as efforts to cool the crisis between the two nuclear-armed neighbours continues.
Locals were forced to flee from their homes in Kashmir as India and Pakistan exchanged gunfire through the night.
Jet fighters were seen over the mountainous region one day after the two nuclear-armed nations had claimed to have shot down each other’s warplanes.
There were no immediate reports of casualties but those living in the disputed region were seen fleeing the area with no imminent ceasefire in sight.
Members of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharitiya Janata Party (BJP) called for more military action, suggesting the conflict could worsen.
An Indian government source told The Independent that relations with Pakistan would not return to normal, even with the return of their pilot.
World powers have called on the nations to de-escalate the tensions which started after a suicide car bombing on 14 February killed more than 40 Indian paramilitary personnel.
But the risk of conflict rose dramatically on Tuesday when India launched an air strike into Pakistani territory on what it said was a militant training base – the first such raid since the two nations’ 1971 war over territory that later became Bangladesh.
New Delhi claimed at least 300 militants were killed in the strike, while Pakistan said no one was killed.
The situation escalated further yesterday when Pakistan said it had shot down an Indian aircraft and captured a pilot.
India acknowledged one of its jets was “lost” and that its pilot was “missing in action”.
India also said it shot down a Pakistani plane, something Islamabad denied.
Here is how we covered the day's events
Welcome to The Independent's coverage of the current tension between India and Pakistan.
Just a quick reminder of where we are:
Tensions began after a suicide bombing on 14 February which killed more than 40 Indian paramilitary personnel.
In response, on Tuesday, India launched an air strike in Pakistan on what it said was a militant training base - the first such raid since the two nations' 1971 war over territory that later became Bangladesh.
New Delhi claimed at least 300 militants were killed in the strike, while Pakistan said no one was killed.
The two nations clashed yesterday when Pakistan said it had shot down two Indian aircraft while India claimed to have also shot one down.
India acknowledged one of its jets was "lost" and that its pilot was "missing in action".
Pakistan airspace remains closed, causing huge travel chaos for thousands of travellers.
Thai Airways International cancelled more than a dozen flights to and from Europe after Pakistan closed its airspace.
Flights to and from London, Munich, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Vienna, Stockholm, Zurich, Copenhagen, Oslo, Frankfurt and Rome had been scheduled to fly over Pakistani airspace on Thursday, Thai Airways said in a statement.
Up to 5,000 passengers are believed to have been affected.
Thai Airways said it would resume flights after gaining permission from China to use its airspace for nearly a dozen flights to Europe set to leave on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning.
President Donald Trump is hopeful that India and Pakistan may be on the cusp of progress after the two countries exchanged gunfire through the night along the Kashmir region a day after Islamabad said it shot down two Indian warplanes and captured a pilot.
Trump told reporters at the end of a two-day summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam that India and Pakistan have "been going at it" and that the US has been involved, "trying to help them both out" to "see if we can get some organization and some peace."
I think probably that's going to be happening...We have, I think, reasonably attractive news from Pakistan and India."
India's prime minister says his country's enemies are conspiring to create instability through terror attacks.
The remarks by Prime Minister Narendra Modi come amid tensions with Pakistan following the areal skirmish between the two countries in disputed Kashmir.
Here is some history about the region that is worth knowing:
After partition of the subcontinent in 1947, Kashmir was expected to go to Pakistan, as other Muslim majority regions did. Its Hindu ruler wanted to stay independent but, faced with an invasion by Muslim tribesmen from Pakistan, hastily acceded to India in October 1947 in return for help against the invaders.
Pakistan's foreign minister has said that his Saudi Arabian counter[art has arrived in Pakistan with a "special message" from the Crown Prince.
The Independent's Asia Editor, Adam Withnall, has written a story about Narendra Modi's first comments since yesterdays skirmishes with Pakistan:
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