Tri-service media briefing postponed after IAF pilot's release announced

The joint services press conference scheduled for Thursday has been postponed as following Pakistan's decision to release captured Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman.

The conference, scheduled for 5 p.m., will now take place at 7 p.m.

The Ministry of Defence had announced the first tri-service media briefing where operational details were to be made public for the first time by India. 

Source said India was about to share the visuals of evidence about the aerial engagement that took place on Wednesday leading to the shooting down of a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) F-16 by an IAF MiG-21. An Indian MiG also went down and Varathaman was captured.

Details of the air strike on Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror camp at Jaba Top in Balakot were also to be shared as well as evidence about the PAF dropping shells in Indian territory, claiming the target was a military installation, sources added. -IANS