Amritsar, March 1,2019: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday wholeheartedly welcomed IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman back home while choosing not to receive him at the border to ensure that the defence protocol that is usually followed in such cases is not violated in any way.
“I would have loved to go, since both he and his father were from the National Defence Academy, like me, and it would have been an extremely happy and nostalgic moment for me to receive the brave officer,” said the Chief Minister in a statement.
However, after his offer to the Prime Minister last evening to welcome the IAF officer back on the Indian soil at the Punjab border, Captain Amarinder said he thought it over and came to the conclusion that it might contravene the protocols laid out for such cases. When any PoW from the 1965 or 1971 war came back, he was first sent for medical examination, followed by a debriefing, which was likely to be the case with Wing Commander Abhinandan too, he noted.
In the circumstances, it would be more proper for him not to go to the Wagah border to receive the officer, said the Chief Minister, who was camping in the border areas for the past three days as part of the confidence-building exercise undertaken by him in the wake of the tensions prevailing at the LoC following the IAF surgical strikes in the aftermath of the deadly Pulwama terror attack.
But the Chief Minister extended a very warm welcome to Abhinandan, saying the whole nation was proud of the way he stood up to questioning by the Pak armed forces during his captivity. “It was top-class and I congratulate him and welcome him back home,” Captain Amarinder added.