evidence: The captured Indian pilot at the center of one of the gravest military crises in South Asia in years was released from Pakistani custody in a dramatic night-time handover at a border post between the two countries on Friday. The pilot, identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, found himself at the center of soaring tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors after his MiG-21 jet was downed during a dogfight between Pakistani and Indian warplanes over the ceasefire line in the disputed Kashmir region on Wednesday. [...] Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has described the release of the pilot as a "gesture for peace" in an attempt to defuse the spiraling crisis between the two countries.