Army, Navy and IAF to hold first joint media briefing amid India-Pakistan tension
The Army, the Navy and the Indian Air Force (IAF) were due to brief the media together for the first time, as tension between India and Pakistan remained high. Earlier in the day the three service chiefs met Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, a day after several rounds of discussion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Meetings in Delhi
The briefing was scheduled a day after an IAF pilot was captured by Pakistan following an aerial engagement between Indian and Pakistani military jets, the first such clash in many years. A senior minister said the political leadership had consciously decided not to comment on the stand-off.
The military chiefs also attended another high-level meeting attended by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, the Home and Foreign Secretaries, and the chiefs of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and the Intelligence Bureau. What was discussed was not made public, though it was reported that the stand-off and steps to secure the pilot’s early return were on the agenda.
The captured pilot
Videos released from Pakistan showed the pilot blindfolded and bleeding, with his hands tied behind his back, while he was being questioned. Official and media accounts later removed them amid allegations that Pakistan had breached the Geneva Convention. A later video showed him drinking tea and saying he had been treated well by Pakistani army officers.
India objected strongly to what it called a vulgar display of an injured service member and warned Pakistan to make sure no harm came to him.
How the crisis built up
Tension rose sharply when Pakistani jets tried to target Indian military installations, a day after Indian jets struck a large training facility of the Jaish-e-Mohammed. The group had carried out the suicide attack in Pulwama, Kashmir, on February 14 that killed more than 40 soldiers. Meanwhile the US, Britain and France moved a fresh proposal at the UN Security Council to list Jaish chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, a step China has blocked several times in the past.
What happened next
The Balakot strike had taken place on 26 February 2019. The captured officer, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, was returned by Pakistan on 1 March 2019.
See also: latest news
Originally published on 28 February 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.
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