Imran Khan feared that India would retaliate decisively after PM Modi declined his request for a phone call. Consequently, he was forced to announce in his Parliament that Pakistan would release the then-Indian Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. Notably, the riveting details and inside story of the Indian Pilot’s rescue have recently been revealed in the upcoming book by Former Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria.
According to a Times of India report, Former Indian Diplomat Bisaria in his new book – Anger Management: The Troubled Diplomatic Relationship Between India and Pakistan — has revealed the inside story of how PM Modi ensured Abhinandan’s rescue. The book details how coercive diplomacy by India post-Pulwama terror attack spooked Pakistan and forced it to rethink its terror policy.
The report added that 9 Indian missiles were pointed at Pakistan after they took wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman captive. Afterwards, it contacted Ajay Bisaria, who was the Indian high commissioner at the time. Imran Khan wanted to arrange a telephonic conversation between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Bisaria checked with people in Delhi and later informed the Pakistanis that PM Modi was not available at that hour. He suggested that any urgent message could be conveyed directly to the high commissioner. However, he didn’t hear from them again that night.
Incidentally, Pakistan tried to project the release of the Indian fighter pilot as “a peace gesture” as was hailed and projected by Indian “liberals”. However, to the Western diplomats who had warned Pakistan about the seriousness of India’s possible action, Islamabad seemed “genuinely spooked”.
Details of events that transpired back then
The events that transpired on that night had been shrouded in speculation, but in his book Ajay Bisaria has revealed granular details of developments after Wing Commander was captured in Pakistan. He has shared the scintillating account of India’s coercive diplomacy, which led to Abhinandan’s release 2 days later, as pointed out by the Times of India report.
In the book, Bisaria reveals that he got a call at midnight from the then-Pakistan high commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood who was then in Islamabad. He narrates that Mahmood said Khan was keen to talk to Modi.
Subsequently, Bisaria contacted Delhi and got back to Mahmood, saying PM Modi wasn’t available at that hour and that any urgent message could be conveyed to the high commissioner himself. He adds that he didn’t hear from Mahmood again that night.
On 28th February, the next day, Khan announced in his Parliament to release Abhinandan. During that address (at around 10 minutes 30 seconds), Khan himself admitted that he tried to contact PM Modi. He said that he had tried calling Modi in the interest of peace but elaborated no further, alluding to the fact that his request for a phone call was turned down by PM Modi.
The Western diplomats, including the US and UK envoys to India and Pakistan, had warned Islamabad about how serious India’s threat to escalate the situation if the pilot was harmed, the report added. Conspicuously while Pakistan tried to project the release of the moustachioed Indian fighter pilot as “a peace gesture”, for the Western diplomats who had warned Pakistan, Islamabad seemed “genuinely spooked”.
After the events of 26th February, Pakistan summoned some of these diplomats thrice in rapid succession.
A few of these Western envoys called India’s foreign secretary overnight. In their interactions, they conveyed that Pakistan was ready to release Abhinandan Varthaman. It was also ready to “act” on India’s Pulwama dossier and address the issue of terrorism. They told the Indian Foreign Secretary that Khan would make these announcements in Parliament the next day.
According to Former Diplomat Bisaria, the US and UK envoys were dismissive of Pakistan’s claim that it was a “false flag” operation in their conversations with DG ISI Asim Munir (present army chief) and foreign secretary Tehmina Janjua, as reported by Times of India. The Western Diplomats pointed out that it was a familiar denial practised by Islamabad even after 9/11 and the Mumbai, Pathankot, and Uri attacks. They also conveyed India’s “hard messages” to Pakistani diplomats as well as to GHQ, Rawalpindi, as in Pakistan, the Army is considered to take all the major decisions.
In the book, Bisaria says, “India’s coercive diplomacy had been effective, India’s expectations of Pakistan and of the world had been clear, backed by a credible resolve to escalate the crisis.”
It is important to note that India has never officially stated that it aimed missiles at Pakistan to secure Abhinandan’s release. However, the Former Indian Diplomat Ajay Bisaria has revealed how “the threat” unnerved the army and Khan’s government.
As per the details of that day, Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua had summoned the US, UK, and French envoys on 27th February to discuss India’s demands after Abhinandan was captured. At around 5.45 pm, Janjua interrupted the conversation to read out a message from the army. The message claimed that India had 9 missiles pointed at Pakistan, to be launched any time that day.
She then asked the Western envoys to report this “credible information” to their capitals and press on India to not escalate. One of these envoys asked her to discuss the issue directly with India. The Indian acting high commissioner was also summoned shortly after these meetings. It was then followed by Khan’s efforts to reach out to PM Modi.
According to the Times Now report, a Western diplomat later told Bisaria that India’s actions seemed to have triggered a rethink by Pakistan on the efficacy of deploying proxy terror against India. An example of this was that Army chief Qamar Bajwa told Western diplomats that they would take action on the Pulwama dossier prepared by India. The army told its Western confidants that this was another APS moment, referring to the killing of 145 children in the Army Public School in Peshawar in 2015.
Strikingly, Bisaria later received an important call at a later stage which was seen as the most significant piece of evidence about Pakistan’s seriousness on this issue. A few months later, at around 2 am, Bisaria received a phone call from a contact close to ISI.
The caller alerted the Indian high commissioner about an imminent attack by Al Qaeda to avenge the killing of its operative Zakir Musa. Apparently, the ISI led by Asim Munir was keen to not just discuss it at the military level but also wanted the Indian High Commissioner to escalate it and pass it on to the Indian government. As per the Times of India report, it was a genuine tip-off which was evident as an attack did take place around the predicted time and place.
Khan wanted to have a meeting at the sidelines of SCO but got snubbed by India
According to Bisaria’s conclusion, the input was either a result of Pakistan not wanting another Pulwama or Bajwa working to improve the atmospherics ahead of the SCO Bishkek summit in June of that year.
Strikingly, Bisaria also details another episode where Khan tried to broker a close interaction with PM Modi on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Bishkek. In the book, Bisaria notes that a close friend of Khan had approached him for a “brief handshake and conversation” between Khan and Modi in Bishkek on the sidelines of the SCO summit. The meeting would have allowed the Pakistan PM to convince Modi of his “sincerity” in dealing with terrorism.
Imran Khan’s government expelled Bisaria after India revoked the special status of J&K in August 2019. According to Bisaria, it was Khan’s shrill and personal rhetoric against India’s leadership that finally shut the door to diplomacy. The Pakistan army under Bajwa didn’t want the door shut entirely.
PM Modi had hinted that it would have been a bloody night had Pakistan not released Indian Pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, however, Indian liberals tried to hail and project it as Khan’s peace gesture
It is important to note that the night in question was 27th February 2019 and it could have been a “Qatal ki raat” (night of bloodshed) had Pakistan not rescued the Indian Pilot, as was later described by PM Modi himself in an election rally. Hinting that India could have taken a kinetic military action, Modi had told an election rally in 2019 that Pakistan, fortunately, released the pilot or else it would have been a “Qatal ki Raat”.
On 27th February 2019, Indian Wing commander, Abhinandan Varthaman engaged Pakistan’s F-16s in an aerial dogfight earlier in the day. However, he was captured by enemies after his Mig-21 Bison was shot down by a Pakistani missile right after he destroyed a Pakistani jet. The Pakistani Army and the Imran Khan government released him within 48 hours of his capture.
Trumpeting the Imran Khan line, the coterie of Indian liberals (read cynics of the Modi government) rather than appreciating the Indian government’s and military’s efforts in safely bringing back Abhinandan Varthaman, started a flurry of tweets praising it as a “peaceful gesture” by Imran Khan.
We in India may not like this, but in terms of pure optics, @ImranKhanPTI at the moment is winning the day by taking the moral high ground .. we have a strong case on terror but too many of our leaders busy calculating votes at the moment..
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) February 28, 2019
I think we should welcome this gesture from @ImranKhanPTI on the release of #Abhinandan. The door for deescalation has been opened. And this is really not the time for dumb and needless gloating by tv anchors
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) February 28, 2019
Remember how Indian Journalists like @SardesaiRajdeep @BDUTT were praising Imran Khan for 'gesture' of releasing Abhinandan?
— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) January 8, 2024
Book of Former Indian High Commissioner reveals that Imran Khan was afraid that India will attack Pakistan on 'Qatal Ki Raat'
He called PM Modi but he… pic.twitter.com/loxNU0AqlM
It was nothing but another attempt at the cowardice dove policy, “Aman ki Asha” that put shackles on the Indian armed forces and bolstered Pakistan’s confidence to separate Indian soldier’s heads from their torso, fearing no retaliation for their barbarity.
While the Former Indian Diplomat has shared the details of the inside story of how PM Modi ensured Abhinandan’s rescue, had it been a “peace gesture” by the blue-eyed boy of the liberals, why was such generosity witnessed in the case of illegally arrested Kulbhusan Jadhav or ceisure in cross border terror against India. Post Pulwama, India tightened the screws, and as pointed out by Pakistani Parliamentary, Imran Khan’s legs were shivering and he was sweating profusely fearing attack by India, and thus made the announcement to release the Indian pilot, out of fright, not generosity. India always had the might to instil fear in neighbourhood bullies and thugs and unshackling the armed forces has shown ‘adversaries’ their place.
