Protestors demand a safe return of Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman. Photo: Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Pakistan returned a captured Indian pilot on Friday as a pre-planned gesture of peace that could defuse tensions in the simmering conflict between two nuclear powers, the Associated Press reports.
The backdrop: The pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, was shot down earlier this week after Pakistan claimed he traversed into its airspace in the disputed Kashmir region.
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