Tag: Abhinandan Varthaman

  • President Ram Nath Kovind confers Vir Chakra on Abhinandan Varthaman

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman, who downed an enemy jet during an aerial combat with Pakistan in 2019 and was held captive for three days in that country, was on Monday honoured with the Vir Chakra award by President Ram Nath Kovind.

    The fighter pilot of the Indian Air Force has been decorated with India’s third-highest wartime gallantry medal for displaying an “exceptional sense of duty” during the dogfight, the award citation said.

    The award ceremony, held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and several other dignitaries.

    Several other military officers were also honoured at the event.

    Earlier this month, the Indian Air Force approved the rank of Group Captain for Varthaman.

    “President Kovind presents Vir Chakra to Wing Commander (now Group Captain) Varthaman Abhinandan. He showed conspicuous courage, demonstrated gallantry in the face of the enemy while disregarding personal safety and displayed exceptional sense of duty,” the Rashtrapati Bhavan tweeted.

    Wing Commander Varthaman (now Group Captain) downed the Pakistani jet on February 27, 2019, before his MiG 21 Bison jet was hit.

    Pakistan launched retaliation against India for the Balakot airstrikes a day before.

    The citation read out at the ceremony said a large force of the Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft, consisting of advanced fourth-generation F-16 and JF-17, was detected heading toward the Line of Control (LOC) at around 9:55 am that day.

    It said Wing Commander Varthaman, displaying exceptional air combat acumen and knowledge of the enemy’s tactics, scanned the low altitude airspace with his Airborne Intercept (AI) radar and picked up an enemy aircraft that was flying low to ambush the Indian fighter-interceptor aircraft It said he alerted the other formation pilots about the “surprise threat”, and then consolidated the riposte against the hostile Pakistani aircraft that were attempting to drop weapons on the Indian Army positions.

    “This audacious and aggressive manoeuvre forced the enemy aircraft into tactical chaos. All the enemy aircraft thereafter turned back including the rear echelon aircraft that were yet to launch their air to ground weapons,” the citation said.

    Wing Commander Varthaman then pursued a retreating enemy fighter bomber aircraft, and in the ensuing aerial combat, shot down an F-16 aircraft with his onboard missile, it said.

    “However, in the melee, one of the enemy aircraft fired multiple advanced BVR (beyond visual range) missiles, one of which hit his aircraft forcing him to eject in enemy territory,” it said.

    The citation said despite being captured by the enemy, he continued to display exceptional resolve in dealing with the adversary in a brave and dignified manner till he was repatriated on March 1, 2019.

    “His actions raised the morale of the armed forces in general and the IAF in particular,” it said.

    The strike by India’s warplanes on a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Balakot and the Pakistani Air Force’s subsequent retaliation the next day triggered fears of a war between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

    The government had announced its decision to confer the Vir Chakra on Varthaman in 2019.

  • IAF approves Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman’s promotion as Group Captain

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman who gained fame for shooting down a Pakistan Air Force’s F-16 in a dog fight in 2019 has been approved for the rank of Group Captain.

    Confirming the development an Air force officer said, “Yes, Wing Commander Varthaman has been approved for the next rank as per merit and he might soon get posted to his new position.”

    Group Captain is equivalent to a Colonel in the Indian Army. The other way to become a group captain is the time scale which is after completing 26 years of active service.

    “As Varthaman is an active flier, it is most likely that he will be commanding a Combat Squadron,” said another officer.

    In general, the selection of Group Captains from Wing Commanders is completed around March and around three batches are considered after completing approximately 16-17 years of service for the flying branch, added the second officer.

    Wing Commander Varthaman gained fame when he shot down a comparatively advance F-16 fighter piloting his legacy fighter MiG 21 Bison on February 27, 2019 when Pakistan Air Force fighters tried to enter Indian Air Space to retaliate for an Indian strike on Jaish e Mohammed (JeM) Camps in Balakot area of Pakistan on February 26, 2019.  

    Indian Air Force strike on JeM Camps was in retaliation to the 14 February, 2019 suicide attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in which 40 personnel lost their lives.

    During the dogfight of February 27 while Wg Cdr Varthaman shot the PAF fighter his aircraft was also hit and he had to eject on the other side of the Line of Control. Varthaman was taken under custody by the Pakistan Army. Pakistan returned him back on March 1, after holding him for around 3 days.

    The President awarded Wing Commander Varthaman Vir Chakra, the third highest Gallantry Award, on the occasion of Independence Day, 2019.  

  • ‘See no reason for India-Pakistan hostility’: Wing Commander Abhinandan in new edited video

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: A new heavily edited video of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who shot down a Pakistan Air Force warplane two years ago, has surfaced on social media- nearly four months after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Sardar Ayaz Sadiq revealed that his army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s legs were shaking and he was ‘sweating’ profusely in a meeting where Qureshi said that if Abhinandan was not released then India would attack Pakistan by 9 pm that night.

    In the two-minute clip with 16 cuts, the Indian Air Force pilot can be seen talking about peace between the two countries.

    Father I wish to confess….(After Software Update) #Abhinandan #BalakotAirStrike#PAF pic.twitter.com/4gDJc0v6D2
    — iAsad (@iAsadM1) February 26, 2021

    “I was badly hurt, and couldn’t move. So, I tried to enquire in which country I was? When I discovered that I was not in my country, I tried to flee from the people who were after me. They were very spirited and they tried to catch me. Just at the moment, two soldiers of the Pakistani Army came and caught me and saved me from the situation. A Captain of the Pakistani Army saved me and took me to his Unit where I received first-aid. Later I was shifted to a hospital where a thorough check-up was done and was provided with more aid,” Wing Commander Abhinandan is seen saying in the video.

    The video was uploaded on an unidentified Twitter handle, ‘wars on the brink’, who claims to be an IT specialist.

    Abhinandan shot to limelight in early 2019 after India carried out Balakot airstrikes on Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in hinterland Pakistan in response to the killing of 44 CRPF personnel by the terror group in Pulwama.

    The following day, on February 27, Pakistan retaliated and attempted a daytime strike inside Kashmir which IAF thwarted. An Indian MiG-21 Bison fighter jet, flown by Abhinandan, fell as he brought down a PAF F-16.

    Abhinandan, who crash-landed inside Pakistani territory was taken prisoner before being sent back to India.

    Earlier today, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan once again raked up the Kashmir issue and mentioned Abhinandan Varthaman in his tweet. “We also demonstrated to the world Pakistan’s responsible behaviour in the face of India’s irresponsible military brinkmanship, by returning the captured Indian pilot. We have always stood for peace & remain ready to move forward to resolve all outstanding issues through dialogue,” he wrote.