Pakistan will release Indian pilot Friday as 'peace gesture': Imran Khan

Pakistan will release a captured Indian pilot on Friday, Prime Minister Imran Khan told a joint session of parliament Thursday, in an overture towards New Delhi after soaring tensions fuelled fears of conflict between the nuclear-armed rivals.

"As a peace gesture we are releasing the Indian pilot tomorrow," Khan said, a day after Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was shot down in a rare aerial engagement between the South Asian neighbours over the disputed region of Kashmir.