Yep, it actually speaks volumes about the skills of Abhinandan. Besides the fact that he is our soldier, we need him back as India cannot afford to lose such talented pilots.
For perspective, the F16 has automatic locking for targets. But for the Mig21, you have to manually lock onto the target while manuoevering. The latter is incredibly difficult and that's what Abhinandan did. The former is obviously what the other Pakistani jets did to bring him down. The Mig-21 is an outdated model, we have upgraded to Mig-29s now.
The Wing Commander's only mistake was overexuberance in crossing LOC to shoot down the F16. It was clear that orders were to not cross into Pak but I think he didn't notice it in the heat of battle.
It is very nice to see Pakistani media crowing about the capture, but what doesn't occur to them is that we could have easily used missiles like Brahmos to take down the Pakistani jets when they crossed into our airspace. Those jets wouldnt have stood a chance then. That we didn't and only used Mig-21s is a sign of our restraint, and despite Pakistan targeting military installations, they couldn't achieve squat.
Now, imagine if we had moved heavy artillery to the border too.
Regarding proofs, it is absolutely clear that a Pakistani F16 was shot down. The army has stated it in a press conference and provided the proofs:
Now, here are a few hard facts:
1) India made a pre-emptive, non-military strike into Pakistan which has been acknowledged by most nations. Even Pakistan, while denying it, inadvertently admitted that there is JeM presence there. Their minister, Sheikh Rashid, yesterday saud in Parliament that India razed down some structures belonging to JeM!
2) However, Pakistan chose to attack our military locations. It wasn't a "non-military" strike. They also used F16s. This was an act of war and hence, India has the right to retaliate.
3) Pakistan captured Commander Abhinandan and tried to use him as leverage for talks at first. India did not budge.
4) This release is no "peace offering". Pakistan are trapped here -- if they admit Abhinandan was a PoW, that means they have to admit that what they did was an act of war (since our Balakot strike has been classified as "non-military" and accepted by other nations; we have also provided the dossier). So, that means we have a right to retaliate and that's what the army meant when they saud "Navy is ready" -- we were ready to go to Karachi port and carry out a blockade.
5) If Pakistan denied that Wing Commander was a PoW and hence not bound to the Geneva Convention, then his arrest by their military is legally void. He isn't an alleged spy like they claim for Kulbhushan and they accept he isn't PoW; hence he did not take any action relevant to war. So, the only crime would have been trespassing into PoK and their police, and not army, should have arrested him and deported him anyway!!
6) Besides all of these, India warned Pakistan that if anything happened to Abhinandan, full-scale war is an eventuality which Pakistan cannot hope to last for 7 days. This is an absolute fact and the idea that PAF can do any damage to us because they managed to overwhelm a pilot in a Mig-21 after their own F16 was taken down is quite laughable.
7) Multiple outlets report that Imran Khan tried to call Modi. The Pakistani propaganda was running full swing, but Imran Khan knows the reality. The Indian government kept mum about Abhinandan purposely to let Pakistan do what they knew was inevitable.
8) Understanding all this, Imran Khan and Bajwa made this great gesture. Magnanimous.
A bit more from the army briefing:
The army's statement is that they are neither escalating nor deescalating, nor are they considering Abhinandan's return as a "peace offering", but as an obligation due to the Geneva Convention. The reference to this indicates that they consider this an act of war by Pakistan. They also intimated that they will again strike down terror camps in the future -- thus, the implication is that there will be more severe retaliation if Pakistan does not give Masood Azhar or Hafeez Saeed. I also think-- not sure, mind you -- that this means in future, India won't respond to ceasefire violations with Mig-21s and gunfire-- instead of restraint, missiles and heavy artillery could be used to snuff them out.
Anyone with a small understanding of international diplomacy, military warfare and tactics, relative strengths of Pakistan and India and their capabilities should see that I speak only what's the actual reality and not mere emotional patriotic fervour or going "OMG!! WAR11!!" but obviously this will fly over the heads of the usual suspects.
