Imran Khan calls for dialogue after two Indian jets shot down

Bloomberg

India said an air force pilot was missing after Pakistan said it had shot down two Indian fighter jets, as relations between the arch rivals worsened amid the possibility of a full blown war.
India has yet to ascertain that the missing pilot is in Pakistan’s custody, said Raveesh Kumar, foreign ministry spokesman in a media briefing in New Delhi, in India’s first statement on Wednesday’s events.
In an address to the nation, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Pakistan only took action after ascertaining damage done by India’s attack on Tuesday. He called for dialogue, saying: “Better sense should prevail. We should sit down and talk.”
One Indian aircraft fell inside Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, and the other crashed on India’s side of the Line of Control, said military spokesman Asif Ghafoor. One pilot is injured and receiving medical treatment and the other is in custody, he said at a news conference in Islamabad. “Both are under arrest and we are treating them with dignity.”
Videos are circulating on social media that claim to show the arrested Indian pilots in Pakistan’s custody. In one, the pilot states his name, service number and religion, while in a separate clip, an injured pilot is being transported in a vehicle. Ghafoor said that man was under treatment at the Combined Military Hospital.
India’s ANI news agency is reporting that a Pakistan F-16 which violated Indian air space was shot down three kilometers within Pakistan territory in Lam Valley. Ghafoor said Pakistan didn’t use F-16 planes in the operation.
“This is unprecedented territory — we haven’t had tit-for-tat air strikes between India and Pakistan since the 1971 war,” said Anit Mukherjee, a former Indian Army major and assistant professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, by phone. “We don’t know what will come from this. But it seems like Pakistan has given a response. And there have been casualties — captures, deaths.” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the foreign ministers of both countries on Wednesday. He said “we encourage India and Pakistan to exercise restraint, and avoid escalation at any cost,” and noted Pakistan’s priority was to avoid military action and take “meaningful action against terrorist groups operating on its soil.”

Several flights cancelled
Bloomberg

An airspace closure in Pakistan and parts of Northern India disrupted flight schedules, forcing airlines to cancel or divert some flights, after the south Asian nations engaged in fighter-jet combat in an escalating security situation.
Among global carriers, Singapore Airlines Ltd. is aware of the airspace closure, which may affect some flights, the airline said in an email on Wednesday. Singapore Air’s Flight 308, headed for London, changed course to avoid flying over Pakistan, the FlightRadar24 website showed. Flights around that area by other airlines including Finnair Oyj took a path over the Persian Gulf, according to the flight tracker.
SriLankan Airlines canceled flights to the Pakistani cities of Karachi and Lahore on Thursday following the airspace closure, it said in a statement. The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation said flights will be diverted after the Pakistani advisory.