Wg. Cmdr. Abhinandan Varthaman's parents get standing ovation onboard flight to Delhi

His family will meet Abhinandan at Wagah border in the evening.

Air Marshal (retd) S. Varthaman, father of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, leave for Delhi airport from his residence, in Chennai

Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman's parents got a standing ovation on board flight to Delhi.

A video of this that went viral on Friday morning showed retd. Air Marshal S. Varthaman and Shobha Varthaman recieving a round of applause from the fellow passengers who made way to allow the couple to alight from the aircraft.

It also showed some of the fellow passengers taking pictures of the parents. The couple were seen acknowledging the gesture.

After his jet crashed on Wednesday, Wing Commander Abhinandan ejected safely, but was taken into custody by Pakistani forces. He has been in custody for the past two days and is expected to be handed over to India today evening at the Wagah border in Amritsar.

The family left from Delhi to Amritsar and will be present along with the Indian armed forces to meet the pilot at Wagah.

Sources said that Wing Commander Abhinandan is likely to be brought by Pakistani authorities from Rawalpindi to Lahore and handed over first to the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) under rules of the Geneva Convention, before being brought to the Wagah-Attari joint check post at around 3 p.m. to return home. Wing Commander Varthaman will be debriefed by defence and security officials after his return.