India-Pakistan: Latest news on Kashmir crisis

After much anticipation, the captured Indian airman Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman finally crossed the border from Pakistan to India around 8:50pm local time (10:50 a.m. ET), ending his detention in Pakistani custody.

A statement from Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the pilot was "treated with dignity and in line with international law" while in detention.

In a solemn handover, military personnel walked alongside Varthaman as he walked towards the Wagah border. After finally crossing the border, he was quickly ushered away by Indian army officers.

Crowds of people gathered at the Indian side of the border on Friday afternoon awaiting his expected return. However, they were left waiting for hours to see the wing commander's release due to an unexplained delay.

His detention marked a significant escalation between the two nuclear-armed powers after Pakistan said its air force shot down two Indian fighter jets over the disputed border region of Kashmir. The skirmishes sparked the most serious crisis over the disputed border area in years.

Wing Commander Abhinandan will now be taken for a detailed medical check, Air Vice Marshal of the Indian Air Force, RGK Kapoor told reporters.

"This checkup is mandated particularly because the officer has had to eject from an airplane which would have put his entire body under great stress," Kapoor said.

The pilot had been held in Pakistan after his MiG-21 jet was downed on Wednesday during a dogfight between Pakistani and Indian warplanes over the ceasefire line in the disputed Kashmir region.

Pakistan is handing over the Indian wing commander pilot who has been held in custody since his jet was shot down over the disputed Kashmir region on Wednesday.

Wing Commander Abhinandan was released at the Wagah border crossing on the demarcation line dividing the two countries.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Thursday that the gesture should be seen as an expression of his country's willingness to de-escalate recent tensions.

Wagah -- the border post where the Indian pilot is due to be released by Pakistan -- has taken on a symbolic role in the decades-long conflict over Kashmir, despite being outside the disputed area.

Shashank Joshi, defense editor at The Economist and former senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a defense and security think tank, told CNN that Wagah was probably chosen as the site of the handover for logistical reasons.

"It's a high-security location," Joshi said, adding that Wagah is the principal border crossing between the two nations and other personnel swaps have taken place there in the past.

The village straddles the border -- with the eastern half in India and the western half in Pakistan -- and sits on the Grand Trunk Road, one of the main overland routes between the two nations.

Read more about Wagah's significance here.

Still no sign of the pilot. However, India's Minister of State for External Affairs says Pakistan "has not done us a favor" by returning the Indian wing commander -- despite Islamabad describing the move as a "gesture for peace."

In a written statement on his Twitter account, Indian minister Vijay Kumar Singh said the release was under the Geneva Conventions.

Singh said India welcomed the move, but that "it is the first of many steps that #Pakistan must take to reinforce their commitment to peace."

He added: "We need an affirmative & verifiable action by Pakistan against terrorism.”

While we await the release of the Indian wing commander, Pakistan's spokesperson has tweeted that the country's army chief, Qamar Javed Bajwa, has spoken with top military personnel from the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Major General Asif Ghafoor said in the tweet that Bajwa had discussed the "prevailing standoff" between Pakistan and India and "its impact on peace & stability in the region."

According to Ghafoor, Bajwa told the countries that Pakistan would "surely respond to any aggression in self defence."

People have gathered at the Wagah border to welcome the return of the Indian Air Force pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan.

While some dance, others are waving the national flag of India and shouting slogans.

Officers and media have gathered on both sides of the Wagah border, ahead of the imminent release of the captured Indian pilot, whose jet was downed during a warplane dogfight.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that the pilot, who has been identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan, would be released Friday as a "gesture for peace."

Pakistan will allow limited traffic through three of its major international airports as of 4 p.m. local time on Friday, according to the chief spokeswoman for the country’s Civil Aviation Authority.

A limited number of international and domestic flights in and out of Karachi, Quetta and Islamabad airports will be allowed, spokeswoman Farah Hussein told CNN.

Pakistani airspace is set to be open in full from 1 p.m. local time on March 4.