The captured Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was on Friday welcomed by the IAF team at the Attari-Wagah border in Amritsar district on Friday evening. Earlier, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan as a ‘peace gesture’, and the strategic move is being seen as a diplomatic victory for India.
Everyone welcomed braveheart Abhinandan back to his home country and termed it as a victory of Indian forces and government. Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag wrote a heartfelt message for Abhinandan as the former Indian opener welcomed back the hero with open arms. Apart from him quite a few people from the cricketing fraternity welcomed the IAF Wing Commander like Rishabh Pant, Suresh Raina, Mohammad Kaif, etc.
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Here is the what Sehwag wrote, “How proud we are to have you! Bow down to your skills and even more your grit and courage # WelcomeBackAbhinandan. We love you and are filled with pride because of you. # WeAreSupposedToTellYouThis”.
How proud we are to have you ! Bow down to your skills and even more your grit and courage 🙏 #WelcomeBackAbhinandan . We love you and are filled with pride because of you.#WeAreSupposedToTellYouThis pic.twitter.com/IfqBFNNa3T
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) March 1, 2019
Here are tweets from other people from the cricketing fraternity welcoming the IAF Wing Commander:
Welcome back Abhinandan sir, the entire nation is proud of your selflessness and bravery ! We salute you 🙏🏻 Jai Hind!#WelcomeHomeAbhinandan
— Rishabh Pant (@RishabhPant17) March 1, 2019
#WelcomeHomeAbhinandan So proud of the dignity and grace with which you braved a difficult time. Delighted that you are back. pic.twitter.com/YWV0BaDAvj
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) March 1, 2019
Wing Commander #AbhinandanVarthaman, the entire country salutes your spirit and bravery. 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳#WelcomeBackAbhinandan pic.twitter.com/wXSobEm4VE
— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) March 1, 2019
https://www.instagram.com/p/BudrKLNFegi/
Hundreds of people on Friday were seen gathering at the Attari Joint Check Point (JCP) to welcome the braveheart IAF officer back to India. People had assembled to catch a glimpse of Abhinandan and the enthusiasm of the people was so high that they started to gather at the border since 6 am and the numbers continued to grow as the time passed.
Earlier, Abhinandan had shot down Pakistan Air Force’s F-16 fighter jet by firing an R-73 air-to-air missile, however, the Wing Commander’s MiG-21 Bison crashed and the ejected his parachute which took him into PoK. The Pakistani F-16 had violated the Indian airspace in Jammu and Kashmir, following which the Indian Air Force got indulged in a dogfight.
