The fateful Mi-17 helicopter was shot down by an Indian missile when Indian air defences were on high alert following the February 26 Balakot airstrike that targetted a terrorist camp in Pakistan. The helicopter crashed near Budgam, killing all six Indian Air Force personnel on board.
IAF jets struck at a JeM camp in Pakistan's Balakot on February 26 earlier this year, days after a terror attack on CRPF convoy in Jammu Kashmir's Pulwama which claimed the lives of around 40 CRPF personnel.
Abhinandan shot down a Pakistan F-16 near the Line of Control and landed on the Pakistan side. He was then apprehended by the officials of the Pakistani Army on the same day and taken into custody. Abhinandan returned to India on March 1. He was in Pakistani custody for two days.
The video was released by IAF chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on the occasion of Indian Air Force Day.
The Army Chief also spoke about Islam saying, "I feel the interpretation of Islam by some elements who possibly want to create disruption is being fed to a large number of people. It is not that the religion is bad but the manner in which it is interpreted for whatever reasons, it is affecting people who listen and get carried away and swayed by such messages."
During the Balakot strikes, the Air Force had dropped Spice-2000 bombs from Mirage-2000 fighter aircraft after a pack of 12 of these fighters crossed the Line of Control (LoC) to strike the Jaish terror camp in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The Defence Minister will travel along with Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar and other senior officials to receive the aircraft from France on October 8, they said.
The contract was signed as the Air Force wanted to acquire the bombs after their successful usage in the Balakot airstrikes against a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist camp in Pakistan.
The Balakot airstrike capped days of rising tensions between India and Pakistan. The airstrike pushed Delhi and Islamabad to the brink of an armed conflict, with the Pakistan Air Force attempted retaliatory strikes a day after on February 27.
Historically burdened by its own inadequacies, internal security and governance issues, Pakistan army time and again resorts to misadventure, either through flawed proxy wars and state-sponsored terror or intrusions in our country
