US, Saudi and a tough Indian stand: What led to the release of IAF Pilot

New Delhi, Mar 01: Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan announced on Thursday that IAF Pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman would be released. He made this statement at a joint session of Parliament just four hours after US President Donald Trump said that there would reasonably decent news on India and Pakistan.

"They have been going at it and we have been involved in trying to have them stop," Trump said. "We have been in the middle trying to help them both out."

Apart from the US, other nations such as Saudi Arabia also played a major role. Saudi Prince Mohammad bin Zayed made phone calls both to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Khan. He spoke about the importance of wisely dealing with the situation and also to give top priority to dialogue and communication.

India on the other hand made it clear that he should be released and returned unconditionally. There is no deal in this regard and we demand he be returned unconditionally, a source said. The source further informed that there had been no consular access that has been sought and the only demand is that the pilot be returned unconditionally.

The United States on the other hand stepped into de-escalate tensions between India and Pakistan. US President, Donald Trump had said that he is hopeful that the tensions will end soon. We have reasonably attractive news from India and Pakistan.

Meanwhile India explained to the US over phone its stand on the issue. Minister for External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj has told US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo the reasons behind the air strike and also added that the action was not military in nature, but aimed at destroying a terror camp.