BJP supporters also gathered outside the heavily guarded diplomatic mission, setting fire to the flag dipped in kerosene. "Police tried to restrain them but they got into a car and quickly fled," one witness told AFP. Indian forces remain on a "heightened" state of alert despite Pakistan's promise to free a pilot shot down in air raids this week, top Indian military chiefs said Thursday.
Top generals from the Indian air force, army and navy addressed a press conference. "We are fully prepared and in a heightened state of readiness to respond to any provocation from Pakistan," said the army's Major General Surendra Singh Mahal at a press conference.
He said ground-based air defence weapons had been "put on high alert" along the LoC. India's Air Vice Marshall RGK Kapoor said: "We are extremely happy to have him [Wing Commander Ahinandan Varthaman] back. We want to see him back," he told reporters. He did not say when asked by reporters if India considered the return a de-escalation in the conflict.
"We will celebrate his release tomorrow," said Vinay Bhardwaj, 34, a plumber in Nawshera, a border town in Indian-occupied Kashmir. "People are very happy about that here." Asked about the damage caused by Indian warplanes in Tuesday's 'air strike', Kapoor said it was premature to provide details about casualties.
Prime Minister Imran Khan's office said the prime minister had spoken to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and the United Arab Emirates Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan and that both had appreciated his willingness to find a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Khan has already called for talks with India to prevent the risk of a miscalculation between their militaries.
The Chinese government's top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, spoke by telephone with Pakistan's foreign minister and expressed "deep concern". Pakistan's military said four civilians had been killed and two wounded in a deliberate attack by India during the past 48 hours. With a general election due in India by May, a surge in nationalism from any conflict with Pakistan could become a key factor, potentially favouring Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "This has brought a pro-Modi wave all through the country," B.S. Yeddyurappa, a BJP leader in the southern state of Karnataka, told reporters. "The effect of this will be seen in the elections."