Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman on Tuesday led theformation of the Indian Air Force’s MiG-21 Bison fighter jets during the AirForce Day parade at the Hindon Air Base in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad.

Three Mirage 2000 aircraft and two Su-30MKI fighter aircraft flew in ‘Avenger formation’ by pilots who took part in the Balakot airstrike in February this year. IAF pilots who took part in the force’s Balakot airstrikeswere a part of the parade as a mark of tribute to teams which carried out the strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)’s terror camp in Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on February 26 and thwarted the Pakistani aerial attack on February 27.

The 36-year-old Abhinandan Varthman was captured byPakistan’s army on February 27 after his MiG-21 Bison jet was shot down in adogfight with Pakistani jets during aerial combat.

Before his jet was hit, he downed an F-16 fighter ofPakistan. Abhinandan was released on the night of March 1 by Pakistan.

The action followed a suicide bombing claimed by the terrorgroup that killed 40 troopers of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) inJammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama on February 14.

Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria said there was a major shiftin the way terror attacks were being handled while speaking during on the 87thAir Force Day.

“The strategic relevance of this (Balakot airstrike) is theresolve of political leadership to punish perpetrators of terrorism. There is amajor shift in the government’s way of handling terrorist attacks,” he saidwhile speaking about the IAF’s airstrike.