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 (@RishabPant777) 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
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.
