Parents of captured Indian pilot receive a huge round of applause as they board flight to see their son ahead of his handover on Pakistan border

[Mark-x]

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was handed over at the Wagah border crossing today (pictured, flanked by a Red Cross representative and Pakistani military officers) in what Pakistan's PM called a 'peace gesture', intended to defuse military tensions between the nuclear-armed nations. The pilot has been praised for his stoic professionalism after he swallowed vital military documents and fired warning shots as locals went after him on the ground in Kashmir on Wednesday. Thousands of flag-waving supporters gathered at the border to welcome him home this morning but crowds had dwindled by nightfall as the handover dragged on for hours without explanation. Shortly before 9.30pm Indian time (4pm GMT) he finally appeared at the border checkpoint escorted by military officers and crossed the frontier into India. As Islamabad released him they also published another video of the pilot, in which he apparently praised his 'very professional' Pakistani military captors, who had rescued him from a mob.