Watch: IAF pilot Abhinandan’s parents gets standing ovation on flight

New Delhi: As Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s announced that Pakistan will release the captured Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Varthaman Abhinandan, the nation observed a moment of happiness.

Varthaman Abhinandan’s parents boarded the Chennai-Delhi flight late on Thursday night to welcome their son as he is set to come today. The co-passengers identified the Retd Air Marshal S Varthaman and his wife when the flight was about to land in Delhi.

The passengers stood up in respect to them, cheered, clapped for the Varthaman family’s bravery, ignoring the seatbelt announcement made by the crew. Also, they waited on their seats and allowed Varthaman’s parents first to exit.

Varthaman family soon after landing to Delhi left for Amritsar to receive their son, who will be released by Pakistan as a “peace gesture” through the Wagah-Attari joint check-post around 2 pm.

Abhinandan, flying a MiG -21 Bison fighter plane, was chasing Pakistani jets which transgressed into Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday and crossed over to PoK where his aircraft was shot down. He was ejected safely and was taken to the custody by the Pakistani Army.

Tensions surged between India and Pakistan after the Indian Air Force on Tuesday carried out aerial strikes at a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror training camp in Balakot, in which a large number of terrorists were killed. The strikes were in response to the terror attack in Pulwama, in which about 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives.