Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman, who shot down a Pakistani F-16 during a dogfight over the Line of Control (LoC) on February 27, 2019, was awarded the Vir Chakra by President Ram Nath Kovind.
The dogfight in which Abhinandan was involved took place a day after the Indian Air Force’s Mirage-2000s struck targets in Pakistan’s Balakot in response to the Pulwama suicide terror attack in Kashmir in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed on February 14, 2019.
Abhinandan’s citation for the honor said he courageously engaged the Pakistani aircraft package despite its “immense numerical and technological superiority”, and his aggressive manoeuvres “forced the enemy aircraft into tactical chaos”.
Image courtesy of thesatimes
