New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that India has just completed a pilot project and the real one is yet to be done. Though PM Modi made this remark without making any reference to ongoing tension between India and Pakistan, it assumes significance as he said this in the backdrop of India targeting Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp across Line of Control (LoC).
“You are those people who spend their lives in laboratories. You follow a practice of first doing pilot projects. After the pilot project is completed, then the project is made scalable. We have just completed one pilot project. The real is yet to be done, only the practice has been done so far,” PM Modi said while addressing a gathering at Vigyan Bhavan during the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for 2018.
The surprise announcement also came on the heels of India sending a strong message to Pakistan rejecting the possibility of any deal for securing the release of the pilot and demanding his unconditional and immediate repatriation. Indian government sources also emphatically said the pilot cannot be a bargaining chip.
"In our desire for peace, I announce that tomorrow (Friday), and as a first step to open negotiations, Pakistan will be releasing the Indian Air Force officer in our custody," Khan said. The announcement during a joint session of Parliament was greeted by thumping of desks by lawmakers. The pilot bailed out and landed in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) after his MiG 21 was brought down during a fierce aerial engagement on Wednesday with Pakistan Air Force(PAF) fighters on the Line of Control(LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.
As international pressure mounted on India and Pakistan to show restraint and deescalate tensions, American President Donald Trump said the US has some "reasonably attractive news" from the two countries.
"We have been involved in trying to help them (India and Pakistan) stop and we have some reasonably decent news," he said in his opening statement at a press conference at the end of his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi.
