Pakistan may have been calling the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman a 'geture of peace', but Indian ace shooter Heena Sidhu feels this is “not an act of de-escalation”. While she called for everyone to 'welcome our hero Abhinandan', she does not 'see it getting over yet'. 

She urged Pakistan to take a real 'step towards peace' and send JeM cheif Maulana Masood Azhar to India. The 2018 Commonwealth Games champion Sidhu voiced her sentiments on Twitter. 

She tweeted, "Sending a POW back is not an act of descalation or a step towards peace as some stupid media people are saying. If our "loving" neighbours had sent JeM chief, Masood Azhar, that would have been it. Let's welcome our hero #Abhinandan but dont see it getting over yet."

Sending a POW back is not an act of descalation or a step towards peace as some stupid media people are saying. If our "loving" neighbours had sent JeM chief, Masood Azhar, that would have been it. Let's welcome our hero #Abhinandan but dont see it getting over yet.

— Heena SIDHU (@HeenaSidhu10) March 1, 2019

According to reports, Abhinandan’s MiG-21 had crashed soon after he shot down Pakistan’s F-16 which has tried to attack India's military installations. He ejected safely but landed on Pakistan’s territory where Abhinandan was captured by Pakistan army. 

IAF conducted air strikes and destroyed several terror camps run by Jaish-E-Mohammad in Balakot, a hill town in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, in which around 300 terrosists, trainers and senior commanders are said to have been killed. The next day, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) violated Indian airspace over the Line of Control.