New Delhi (CNN)India is waiting for the release of a pilot who has been in Pakistani custody since he was shot down over Kashmir on Wednesday, a goodwill gesture which could defuse the gravest crisis in the disputed border region in years.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that the pilot, whose jet was downed during a dogfight between Pakistani and Indian warplanes, would be released Friday as a “gesture for peace.”
Despite the planned release of the pilot, tensions in the region continued Thursday. Indian Army Major General Surinder Singh Bahal told a joint news conference of India’s Army, Navy and Air Force in New Delhi on Thursday that India remains on “high alert.”
