Indian Air Force Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman was awarded the Vir Chakra on Monday by President Ram Nath Kovind for shooting down a Pakistani F-16 fighter aircraft in February 2019.
The 38-year-old IAF pilot was captured by the Pakistani Army on February 27 after his MiG-21 Bison jet was shot down in a dogfight with Pakistani jets during aerial combat.
Abhinandan was a Wing Commander back then.
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Before his jet was hit, Abhinandan downed an F-16 fighter of Pakistan Air Force. He was released by Pakistan three days later on the night of March 1.
In the early hours of February 26, 2019, the IAF jets bombed the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror camps in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan and avenged the Pulwama terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel.