Pakistan offers to return Indian pilot

Prime Minister Imran Khan said Pakistan would release the captured Indian pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, today, offering both countries a face-saving way out of a tense crisis that left much of the world on edge.

Mr. Khan also offered to open negotiations with India to defuse hostilities between the two nuclear-armed nations.

Indian officials, however, said that releasing the pilot wouldn’t address the root of the crisis, which they say is Pakistan’s support of terrorist organizations. And some observers believe that the Indian population, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s conservative base, has no appetite for more negotiations.

Analysis: As the crisis played out — starting from a suicide bombing in Kashmir on Feb. 14 to the downing of at least one Indian jet — Pakistan has dominated the narrative, often portraying itself as the level-headed one of the two countries.

The propaganda battle is beginning to take a toll on Mr. Modi, who is up for re-election this year and is now being accused by some of military adventurism.

Background: This flare up once again brought into focus the uncomfortable relationship that India and Pakistan have shared since partition in 1947 and the significance of the disputed Kashmir region that straddles both countries.