India-Pakistan: Latest news on Kashmir crisis

Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has met Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, the pilot released by Pakistan at the Wagah border on Friday.

Sitharaman joined the pilot and his family earlier on Saturday at a military hospital in New Delhi, where he has been undergoing medical checks.

In a tweet, India’s Defence Ministry said Sitharaman conveyed “the sentiment of the Nation” to the pilot, adding she “appreciates his impeccable combat skills as well as calmness in adversity.”

India and Pakistan have agreed to resume the services of the Samjhauta Express – one of the two train services connecting the two countries – from Sunday, RK Rana, a spokesperson for the Indian Railways, told CNN.

The service, which runs between New Delhi in India and Lahore in Pakistan, was suspended earlier this week following the escalation in tensions between the two neighbors.

Commonly referred to as the “Friendship Express,” the line was established several years ago as Indian and Pakistan officials worked to improve relations.

Its name translates to “compromise” or “settlement” in both Hindi and Urdu.

Violence has continued across the de-facto border between Indian-controlled Kashmir and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, known as the Line of Control (LoC).

Two Pakistan Army soldiers were killed in cross-border fire with Indian forces over the LoC on Saturday, according to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

The fighting took place at Nakiyal Sector, the Army’s statement said. The dead soldiers have been named as Havaldar Abdur Rub and Naik Khuram.

The ISPR reports that Indian troops also sustained casualties and there was damage to the post.

Beijing has important links with both Pakistan and India that it needs to balance – but it is on the verge of being sucked into the India-Pakistan crisis.  Earlier this week China’s Foreign Ministry called for both Pakistan and India to “maintain self-restraint and focus on regional peace and stability.”

Read more here.

Wing Commander Abhinandan, the pilot captured by Pakistan forces after his plane was shot down in a dogfight earlier this week, was returned to India on Friday evening at a famous border post in the village of Wagah.

While Indian-controlled Kashmir and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir are separated by a 435-mile de facto border known as the Line of Control (LoC), Wagah village sits on the international frontier to the south between the Pakistani city of Lahore and the Indian city of Amritsar.

The border post has taken on a symbolic role in the decades-long conflict over Kashmir, despite being outside the disputed region, thanks to a daily military parade known as the Beating Retreat ceremony.

Learn more about it, and the symbolic village where it takes place, here.

India and Pakistan have fought several major wars – the last being in 1999 – involving thousands of casualties and numerous skirmishes across the Line of Control in the contested Kashmir region.

Since that last clash, both countries have quietly sought to enlarge and upgrade their military capabilities.

With its military buildup over those decades, India now exceeds Pakistan on most numerical measurements – fighter jets, troops, tanks and helicopters.

India far surpasses Pakistan in other measures, too, especially in military budget, $64 billion to $11 billion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

But, as is often the case, numbers don’t tell the whole story. Read more here.

Russia has continued its efforts to act as peace broker in the latest India-Pakistan Pakistan escalations, with the country’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov calling his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, on Friday.

During the call, Qureshi expressed gratitude for Russia’s role in de-escalating regional tensions, according to a statement from Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  

The statement said Lavrov encouraged Pakistan and India to “resolve all issues through dialogue and peaceful means.”

Lavrov once again offered mediation services between the two quarrelling nations and offered to supply a venue for further talks, the foreign ministry statement added.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has tweeted well-wishes to the pilot, welcoming him back to the country.

“Welcome home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is very proud of your exemplary courage,” he tweeted.

Modi added that India’s armed forces were an “inspiration” to its 1.3 billion citizens.

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.

The daily military parade held at the Wagah border, known locally as the “beating retreat” ceremony, has been canceled on the Indian side, Indian Border Security Force (BSF) spokesperson Subhendu Bhardwaj told CNN.

The ceremony, which sees Pakistan’s Rangers and India’s Border Security Force take part in a lowering-of-the-flags ceremony, is typically held before sunset at around 4 p.m. local (5:30 a.m. ET).

The escalation between Pakistan and India this week has put Beijing in an awkward position. 

It isn’t just that China shares a border with the contested region of Kashmir – Beijing also has important links with both Pakistan and India that it needs to balance.

China has close economic, diplomatic and military ties with Pakistan, making it one of the nation’s closest allies in region.

Meanwhile, China’s long-running trade war with the US has forced Beijing to look for alternative trading partners. As result, China has started to rebuild ties with rival power India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“They have to do something to show that they are helping to keep things under control, while not appearing unreliable as Pakistan’s ally,” said Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at SOAS University of London.

Read more analysis from CNN’s Ben Westcott and Steven Jiang here.

As tensions between India and Pakistan continue to simmer, some people are trying to build bridges and dialogue between the two neighboring countries. 

“Let’s trend the hashtag #SayNoToWar. We don’t want more lives to be snuffed out. We want peace. War has never solved any problem. It never will. Thanks,” Kashmiri journalist Sagrika Kissu wrote on Tuesday, two days before Pakistan announced that the captured Indian pilot would be released.

After being picked up by celebrities from both countries, politicians, rights group and regular users, the hashtag began trending worldwide and was among the top trends in India and Pakistan before becoming a Twitter moment.

Read more on that here.

Students in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad are seen praying for the release of the pilot who has been in Pakistani custody since his plane was shot down over Kashmir on Wednesday.

Islamabad is expected to release the pilot, who has been identified Wing Commander Abhinandan, on Friday afternoon local time at the Wagah border crossing.

Crowds of people have gathered at the Wagah border crossing between India and Pakistan ahead of the expected return of the captured Indian pilot, video showed Friday.

Meanwhile, the front pages of Indian newspapers Friday morning focused on the expected release of Wing Commander Abhinandan.

The Times of India ran “Abhi Coming Home, India Won’t Budge On Terror,” while the Millennial Post went with: “Abhinandan To Return.”

In Pakistan, headlines also focused on the Indian pilot, with The Nation calling it “A Moral Victory” for the country, while Dawn ran with “Indian pilot to be freed today as peace gesture: PM’.

At least eight Pakistani civilians have died in cross-border shelling from India since Thursday night in the Chakothi, Madapur, Battal, Tattapani Nakyal in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, Raja Moazzam, Pakistan state director for disaster management told CNN Friday.

Moazzam said dozens of houses have been damaged from shelling and hundreds of people have been moved other areas. About 600 people are taking shelter in state run camps, he said.

Pakistan will not attend the Organization of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers in Abu Dhabi this week because of “unresolved disputes” with India over Kashmir.

In a statement, published by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry Friday, Pakistan accused India of being responsible for “horrendous human rights violations” in what it termed “Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.”

The statement claimed that India had “consistently rejected OIC resolutions” on the disputed region.

“Pakistan believes that with such a record India has no legal or moral grounds to be present at the meeting,” the statement said, adding that the country’s foreign minister will not participate in the meeting on March 1 and 2.

India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj spoke broadly about terrorism in Friday’s session at the OIC without mentioning tensions with Pakistan. “The fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion. It cannot be,” she said. “Every religion in the world stands for peace, compassion and brotherhood.”

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has confirmed that Wing Commander Abhinandan, who has been in Pakistani custody since his plane was shot down over Kashmir on Wednesday, will be released at the Wagah border crossing on Friday afternoon local time.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan described the release as a “gesture for peace.” The move could defuse the gravest crisis in the disputed border region in years.

The Wagah crossing between Pakistan’s Lahore and Amritsar, India, is known for its daily parade, known as the “beating retreat” ceremony.

Every evening there for 60 years, Pakistan’s Rangers and India’s Border Security Force take part in a lowering-of-the-flags ceremony before sunset.

The ceremony, which ends with soldiers folding their countries’ flags and shaking hands, draws attendees from both sides of the border, as well as international tourists.

Speaking with CNN’s Christine Amanpour on Thursday, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, confirmed that Masood Azhar – leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammed militant group that India said it targeted in a pre-dawn strike in Pakistan territory on Tuesday – is in Pakistan.

“He is very unwell,” Quresh said. “He is unwell to the extent that he cannot leave his house, because he is really unwell, so that’s the information I have.”

Qureshi also said that the expected release of the Indian pilot who was shot down should be seen as an expression of his country’s willingness to de-escalate the crisis.

When asked about how serious the situation got and whether he could envision all-out war, Qureshi said he hoped not, that would be “mutual suicide.”

Watch the interview here.

India is waiting for the release of a pilot who has been in Pakistani custody since he was shot down over Kashmir on Wednesday, a goodwill gesture which could defuse the gravest crisis in the disputed border region in years.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that the pilot, whose jet was downed during a dogfight between Pakistani and Indian warplanes, would be released Friday as a “gesture for peace.”

The pilot has been identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan.

Read more on that here.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi by phone on Thursday, according to a statement from India’s foreign ministry.  

“President Putin expressed his deep condolences on the Pulwama terrorist attack. He also conveyed solidarity of the people of the Russian Federation with the people of India in the fight against terrorism,” the statement read.

The Indian government has blamed a Pakistan-based terror organization for a deadly Feb. 14 bomb attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 40 Indian paramilitary soldiers. Pakistan has vehemently denied any role in the attack.

The statement said Modi expressed his thanks for Russia’s “steadfast support for India’s efforts to protect its interests against cross-border terror attacks, and renewed India’s commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation in countering terrorism as a pillar of privileged and special strategic partnership.”

Modi also welcomed Putin’s reiteration of an invitation to attend the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok later this year.

India has accused Pakistan of “unprovoked cease-fire violations” and “factually incorrect statements” on the confrontation between the two powers, military officials said Thursday.

In a joint press conference, the Indian Air Force, Army and Navy claimed Pakistan had used F-16 fighter jets to target military compounds. Pakistan had earlier said “India has been trying to establish what they call ‘a new normal,’ a thinly veiled term for doing acts of aggression at whatever pretext they wish on a given day.”

“Pakistan claimed that they intentionally dropped weapons in open space where there was no human presence or military posts,” Air Vice Marshal of the Indian Air Force, RJK Kapoor said. “The fact is that the Pakistan Air Force aircraft targeted military installations.”

Kapoor also acknowledged Pakistan’s decision to release on Friday the Indian pilot, who has been in Pakistani custody since his plane was shot down during a dogfight on Wednesday.

“The Indian Air Force is happy and looks forward to the return of Wing Commander Abhinandan,” he said.

Despite the positive development that could defuse tensions, Rear Admiral Dalbir Singh Gujral of the Indian Navy said that the military remains “deployed in a high state of readiness and remains poised in all three dimensions. On surface, under sea and in air.”

Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has held two phone calls with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, and Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan on Thursday, Emirates News Agency (WAM) said.

Al Nahyan emphasized the importance behind dealing with the “worrying developments” and working towards easing tensions between the two countries by prioritizing dialogue and communication, according to WAM.

It added that the Crown Prince reiterated the “UAE’s keenness on ensuring peace and stability in India-Pakistan ties” and expressed his “great confidence in the two countries’ leadership prioritizing peaceful dialogue in dealing with the developments that have occurred in the past few days.”

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has urged India and Pakistan to avoid “any action that would escalate and greatly increase risk,” he told reporters Thursday.

Speaking on board his plane after President Donald Trump’s Hanoi summit with Kim Jong Un fell through, Pompeo said the US continues to be “very engaged” with the two countries and that he was “hopeful” that tensions could be cooling down.

India and Pakistan have been locked in a struggle over Kashmir for more than 70 years, and the restive region is back in the news again this week.

So why does the mountainous region mean so much to the two countries?

Kashmir initially remained independent and was free to accede to either nation. When the Hindu king of Kashmir chose to join India in exchange for military protection, Jammu and Kashmir state became the only Muslim-majority state in the country.

Jammu and Kashmir covers around 45% of Kashmir, in the south and east of the region, while Pakistan controls Azad Kashmir, Gilgit and Baltistan – which cover around 35% of the total territory in the north and west. Both countries claim complete ownership of Kashmir; also in the picture is China, which controls around 20% of Kashmir territory known as Aksai Chin.

The issue is also one of the oldest items on the agenda at the United Nations, where India and Pakistan took their dispute soon after independence. 

Both countries agreed to a plebiscite in principle, to allow Kashmiris to decide their own future, but it has never been held because it was predicated on the withdrawal of all military forces from the region, which has not happened even decades on.

Indian authorities wanted to show that they could guarantee the rights of Muslims in a secular state, but Kashmir is also key to Pakistani identity as a homeland for Muslims after partition in 1947, said Simona Vittorini, a specialist in South Asian politics at SOAS University of London.

Read more on that here.

Pakistan’s military says four of its civilians are dead and two others injured as a result of cross-border fire from India, a spokesperson told CNN.

Pakistan says it retaliated in response to India’s “deliberate firing on civilians.” The most recent shelling by Pakistani artillery was in the Pani district of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

In a statement on cross border violence Thursday, Indian’s army accused Pakistan of initiating the attacks earlier this morning. The Indian statement said Pakistan fired mortars and small arms over the Line of Control and into the Krishna Ghati sector of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Pakistan said that on Friday it would release the Indian pilot who has been in Pakistani custody since his plane was shot down on Wednesday.

“We are releasing the Indian pilot tomorrow as a gesture for peace,” Prime Minister Imran Khan said in a televised address Thursday.

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first public comments since an Indian pilot was detained by Pakistan. Modi did not talk specifically about Pakistan or the pilot, instead, the prime minister spoke in general terms about trusting in the “army’s capabilities” and working hard for the “prosperity of the country.”

Meanwhile, hot off the heels of his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, US President Donald Trump addressed the crisis in Kashmir and alluded to possible US attempts to deescalate the situation.

“They’ve been going at it, and we’ve been involved in trying to have them stop. And we have some reasonably decent news, hopefully that’s going to be coming to an end,” said Trump.

Pakistan’s Finance Minister Asad Umar said that the country is “at the cross road of history” as tensions between the nuclear armed neighbors become increasingly fraught. While the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, General Vijay Kumar Singh called for the release of the pilot who was taken into custody in Pakistan. Identifying him as Wing Commander Abhinandan, Singh described him as the “embodiment of a mentally tough, selfless & courageous soldier.”

And there were severe disruptions to thousands of flights around the world as Pakistan closed its airspace for the second straight day. All international and domestic commercial flights in and out of Pakistan were canceled “until further notice” and Thai Airways announced that all its European routes were suspended. The airline later reopened its routes to Europe but Thai Airways flights to Pakistan remain canceled.

For more on the border crisis between India and Pakistan, here’s analysis from CNN’s Nic Robertson and Euan McKirdy.

When two populists go to war, there is every chance their people will suffer more than they will.

These are the stakes that face both the recently-elected Imran Khan in Pakistan and Narendra Modi, of the Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India, who is soon to face the electorate again.

To avoid escalating their current confrontation, the two prime ministers will have to face down the powerful pull of historic rivalries and mistrust, coupled with the more immediate needs of their own political careers.

Both countries say they don’t want war.

Since they became nuclear powers, every time India and Pakistan have gotten to the point of toe-touching, eye-staring aggression the international pressure on them to step back from the brink has ratcheted up. 

It’s no different now, with the US, UK and even China imploring both countries to back off in the past 48 hours.

Read more analysis from CNN’s Nic Robertson here.

During Pakistan’s general election last year, Imran Khan was dismissed by detractors as a political lightweight and foreign policy novice who relied on populism and deference to the country’s influential military for support.

Now, just over six months into his role as Prime Minister, those claims are being tested as Khan finds his country closer to war with its nuclear-armed neighbor, India, than at any point in the past 20 years.

Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the US-based Wilson Center, said the crisis will likely give Khan’s popularity a boost.

“In Pakistan there’s nothing like aggression from India to rally the people,” he told CNN. “The fact that Pakistan had India come into the country to stage these airstrikes, it’s an embarrassment for the military. But the entire country will rally round Imran Kahn to support him.”

However, Kugelman said this is a political test for Khan, who formed his own party 23 years ago.

“He certainly is a neophyte, he has no experience as a national leader, he’s been a politician for a number of years but hasn’t been in a position of national power,” he added.

Read more analysis from CNN’s Euan McKirdy here.

US President Donald Trump has addressed the crisis in Kashmir during a press conference in Hanoi.

“We have, I think, reasonably attractive news from Pakistan and India,” said Trump, alluding to possible US attempts to deescalate the situation.

“They’ve been going at it, and we’ve been involved in trying to have them stop. And we have some reasonably decent news, hopefully that’s going to be coming to an end,” said Trump.

“That’s been going on for a long time. Decades and decades. There’s a lot of dislike, unfortunately, so we’ve been in the middle trying to help them both out, and see if we can get some organization and some peace, and I think, uh, probably that’s going to be happening.”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said “the entire country is one and is standing with our soldiers.”

Speaking in a video conference with campaign workers from his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Modi did not talk specifically about Pakistan or the pilot who was shot down and is currently in custody in Pakistan. Instead, the prime minister spoke in general terms about trusting in the “army’s capabilities” and working hard for the “prosperity of the country.”

“The world is watching our collective will. We trust our army’s capability and because of this, it is extremely necessary that nothing should happen that harms their morale or that our enemies should get a chance to raise a finger against us,” he said.

“When our enemy tries to destabilize the country, when terrorists attack – one of their goals is that our progress should stop, our country should stop moving ahead. To stand up against this aim of theirs, each Indian should stand like a wall or a rock. We have to show them that neither will this country stop, nor will the country’s progress slow down.”

“India will live as one, India will work as one, India will grow as one, India will fight as one, India will win as one,” he said.

Pakistan’s Finance Minister Asad Umar said that the country is “at the cross road of history” as tensions between nuclear armed neighbors India and Pakistan become increasingly fraught.

“Leadership of India & Pak need to decide if we want to lead our nations towards peace & prosperity or conflict,” he said in a post on his official Twitter account Thursday.

He added that Pakistan “remained committed to peace while resolute in defense of our sovereignty.”

The closure of Pakistan’s airspace has forced many planes to change their flight paths, but these images from flight tracking company Flightradar24 demonstrates the disruption that has caused.

A Turkmenistan Airlines flight from the Indian city of Amritsar to the Turkmenistan capital Ashgabat took six hours to fly what would have normally been a two and a half hour flight, according to Flightradar24.

An Uzbekistan Airways flight from Tashkent was forced to take a similar detour on its way to Amritsar.

Thai Airways has resumed “normal flight operations” to Europe after the closure of Pakistan airspace forced the airline to suspend flights to European destinations.

The airline said Thursday that its planes were now flying “through airspace outside Pakistan’s.”

Thai Airways flights to Pakistan remain canceled, however. 

All international and domestic commercial flights in and out of Pakistan were canceled Thursday “until further notice,” Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority said.

Thousands of people were stranded by affected airlines that not only land in Pakistan, but fly over its airspace – one of the major routes from Southeast Asia into Europe.

Read more on that here.

Headlines on the front pages of Indian newspapers in New Delhi Thursday morning local time focused on the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.

The Times of India led with “Tension in the Air,” while the Hindustan Times ran with the headline “Jets Downed, Tension Up.”

The Economic Times had “All Unquiet on Northern Front,” referencing the Kashmir border in northern India. 

Workers in Srinagar have painted a red cross on the roof of Shri Maharaja Hari Singh hospital, the largest such facility in Indian-controlled Kashmir, marking out the building as a medical facility when viewed from above. 

The threat of possible air strikes on both sides of the Kashmir border has risen in recent days, as tensions escalate between India and Pakistan.

The Indian pilot at the center of a border crisis between Pakistan and India has been identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan by General Vijay Kumar Singh, the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs.

The pilot was taken into custody in Pakistan after his plane was shot down in an alleged aerial engagement with the Pakistani military.

Singh posted a tweet on his verified Twitter account describing him as the “embodiment of a mentally tough, selfless & courageous soldier” and called for his safe return.

“During these testing times the country stands, as one, behind him & his family. Our efforts are on & under the #GenevaConvention we hope that the brave pilot would return home soon,” Singh said.

Earlier, Pakistan released what it said was a video of the detained pilot, a move that India called a “vulgar display” and “unprovoked act of aggression.”

The world is waiting for India to respond to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan’s speech, in which he said that any further escalation between the nuclear armed neighbours would be beyond the two leaders’ control.

Speaking in a national address Wednesday, Khan warned that because the two sides have nuclear weapons, the stakes were too high for any “miscalculation” in conflict.

“World history tells us that there are miscalculations in wars. But my question to the Indian government is: Given the arms that we and you have, can we afford any miscalculation?”

“It will neither be in my control, nor in the control of (Indian Prime Minister) Narendra Modi.”

Khan offered to assist India in its investigation into the Pulwama attack that killed 40 Indian soldiers on February 14 and invited Modi to start talks.

“Better sense should prevail. We should resolve our problems by sitting down and talking,” he said.

Pakistan airspace remained closed Thursday morning local time as the country’s increasingly fraught tensions with India disrupted thousands of flights worldwide for the second straight day.

All international and domestic commercial flights in and out of Pakistan were canceled “until further notice,” Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority told CNN.

Thousands of people were also stranded by affected airlines that not only land in Pakistan, but fly over its airspace.

Thai Airways announced that all its European routes “departing near midnight of 27 FEB through early 28 FEB” were canceled “due to sudden closure of Pakistani airspace as a result of tension between India and Pakistan.”

As of Thursday, there will be no Thai Airways flights between Bangkok and London, Munich, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Vienna, Stockholm, Zurich, Copenhagen and Oslo, the airline said in a statement. 

It was also awaiting airspace authorization to operate flights on an alternative route that does not pass Pakistan.

Other airlines diverted or re-routed their flights and some had to make stops to take on extra fuel to complete extended journeys that avoided Pakistan airspace. 

Read more on that here.

China has urged restraint to Pakistan and India amid the Kashmir border crisis, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi saying “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected.”

In an “urgent” late-night call to Pakistan counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Wang said he hoped China “could continue to play a constructive role in easing the current tensions,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Wang urged restraint between the two countries, adding that “China does not want to see the acts that violate the norms of international relations.”

The European Union has urged India and Pakistan to “exercise utmost restraint” amid rising tensions over the disputed Kashmir region.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini cautioned Wednesday that any further escalation between the nations could lead to “serious and dangerous consequences” for the region.

“Terrorism can never be justified,” Mogherini said in an apparent reference to a suicide car bomb attack that killed 40 Indian paramilitary soldiers in Indian-controlled Kashmir earlier this month.

Mogherini said she spoke with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi a few days earlier to emphasize the need to continue to address terrorism, “including clear and targeted actions related to all forms of terrorist activity.”

Pakistan has vehemently denied having a role in the incident.

An Indian Air Force helicopter crashed near Budgam in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Wednesday, killing all six people on board. The incident is not related to the day’s confrontation between India and Pakistan.

The Mi-17 V5 helicopter, which took off from Srinagar airfield, crashed near Budgam on Wednesday morning, India’s defense ministry said in a statement.

Pakistanis in Lahore joined a rally against India on Wednesday, as a potentially dangerous border crisis between the two nuclear-armed powers escalated.

Students from a wing of the hardline religious political party Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JI) burned an Indian flag, and protesters carrying placards reading “Crush India March” chanted “this war continues till the freedom of Kashmir.”

The upsurge in violence between India and Pakistan is threatening to spill over into the sporting arena with fears surrounding their Cricket World Cup showdown in the UK this June.

India has already said it is considering boycotting the match after it claimed a Pakistan-based militant group carried out a deadly suicide car bomb attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir earlier this month.

Last week, the Board of Control For Cricket in India issued a statement urging “the cricketing community to sever ties with countries from which terrorism emanates.”

CNN reached out to the Pakistan Cricket Board for comment but has yet to receive a response.

Speaking on Sunday, India captain Virat Kohli said the players would respect whatever decision was made on whether to play against Pakistan.

Read more on that here.

Domestically, being seen as tough on Pakistan helps Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi politically at a crucial time.

India’s election authorities are due within weeks to announce the dates of the next general election.

In 2014, when Modi first became prime minister, he promised to, among other things, revive a flagging economy and be stronger than his predecessors on defense. On the economic front, things have been looking shaky of late.

But this week’s confrontation with Pakistan is likely to boost Modi’s image as being strong on defense. And his backers are already seizing on the developments, with Amit Shah, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president, tweeting that Tuesday’s “action further demonstrates that India is safe and secure under the strong & decisive leadership” of Modi.

Politically, then, this could strengthen Modi as India heads to the polls. Geopolitically, the risk of escalation remains real.

Read more analysis from CNN’s Nikhil Kumar here.

Kashmir, a largely mountainous region located between India and Pakistan, has had a tumultuous history.

The region has been bitterly contested by both India and Pakistan following the partition of the two countries in 1947, leading to three wars and numerous other skirmishes.

The deadly suicide attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir on February 14 came more than two years after armed militants entered an Indian army base in the garrison town of Uri, about 63 miles (102 kilometers) from Srinagar – killing 18.

India later said it had used ground troops to strike terrorist targets across the LoC in response to the Uri attack, something which Pakistan denied.

Separatist violence in the region has killed more than 47,000 people since 1989, although this toll doesn’t include people who have disappeared due to the conflict. Some human rights groups and nongovernmental organizations put the death toll at twice that amount.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, and Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang have urged India and Pakistan to show restraint.

Pompeo encouraged Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to “exercise restraint, and avoid escalation at any cost,” adding that they should “prioritize direct communication.”

Marc Fields, minister of state for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, told the House of Commons on Wednesday that the UK government hoped India and Pakistan would find a “lasting political resolution to the situation, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people.” He went on to say that the UK is “working closely with international partners including through the UN security council to de-escalate tensions.”  

Lu said China hopes the two nations can keep “good-neighborly relations.”

“We hope that both sides can exercise restraint, take measures conducive to dialogue, work towards the same direction and make positive effort for peace and stability in South Asia,” Lu said.

Videos posted by Pakistani social media accounts on Wednesday show a man reported to be an Indian pilot who was captured after his plane went down in Pakistan. 

This comes as both India and Pakistan confirm at least one Indian pilot went down with an aircraft during an aerial encounter between the two countries over the disputed territory of Kashmir. CNN is not able to independently verify this image.

Pakistan has also released what it said was a video of the detained Indian pilot, identifying him as Wing Comd Abhinandan. India called the move a “vulgar display” and “unprovoked act of aggression” that “violates all norms of international humanitarian law.”

Pakistan and India have differing versions of what has occurred in recent days, but both say they do not want to see further escalations as they continue to deal with the fallout of a deadly attack on Indian security forces earlier this month. Here’s what both sides have had to say:

What Pakistan says:

What India says:

Pakistan says its air force shot down two Indian fighter jets over the disputed border region of Kashmir on Wednesday.

India confirmed the loss of one plane and a pilot, and said it shot down a Pakistani jet as it responded to the incident.

The confrontation came a day after India said it launched airstrikes in Pakistani territory, the first such incursion by Indian Air Force planes since the India-Pakistan war of 1971.

The deepening crisis was triggered by a deadly attack on Indian security forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir earlier this month, for which India has blamed the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

India had previously said that Pakistan had a “direct hand” in the attack – the deadliest on security forces since the beginning of the insurgency in the late 1980s. Pakistan has vehemently denied having a role in the incident.