NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Pakistan handed over a captured combat pilot to India on Friday, and he was being taken for medical checks, an Indian defense official said.

“This check-up is mandated particularly because the officer has had to eject from an aeroplane,” Air Vice Marshal R.G.K. Kapoor told reporters near a border crossing in India’s northern state of Punjab.

The pilot, whom India named on Thursday as Wing Commander Abhinandan, has become the human face of the most recent conflict between the two nations. Having attempted to evade capture, he is being portrayed as a hero in India.