<p>Pakistan has put on display a statue of an Indian pilot whose plane was shot down over Kashmir earlier this year, invoking the ire of India's media.</p>.<p>The life-sized statue of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, complete with his signature moustache, has been installed in an exhibit at a museum in Karachi run by the Pakistan Air Force.</p>.<p>Varthaman's plane was shot down in a dogfight over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir in February during clashes which brought nuclear-armed India and Pakistan to the brink of a new war.</p>.<p>After his capture, the Pakistani military released video showing him sipping a cup of tea and politely refusing to answer questions.</p>.<p>His stoic and courteous demeanour -- and comment that the tea was "fantastic" -- catapulted him to hero status in India.</p>.<p>He was released several days later in a peace gesture from Pakistan aimed at defusing tensions.</p>.<p>The statue stands in a gallery named Operation Swift Retort.</p>.<p>The exhibit includes what Pakistan says are parts of the fuselage and tail of Varthaman's aircraft, a Mig-21, as well as a tea mug, though apparently not the same one the pilot was seen sipping from.</p>.<p>The gallery also contains images re-enacting the moment his plane was shot down, and photographs showing him being handed back to India at the Wagah border crossing.</p>.<p>A mess receipt jokingly charging Varthaman for the tea -- at the cost of one Mig-21 -- is also framed in the exhibit. Images of the mocking receipt went viral in the days after his capture.</p>.<p>The museum stands inside a recreational park for young people in Karachi, complete with decommissioned aircraft and other military hardware.</p>.<p>"I feel very proud of my country seeing Abhinandan's statue at the gallery," said Samiullah Bari, a 10th-grade student visiting the museum on a school trip.</p>.<p>Indians were less enthusiastic, however, with the Times of India newspaper calling the exhibit "a new low".</p>
<p>Pakistan has put on display a statue of an Indian pilot whose plane was shot down over Kashmir earlier this year, invoking the ire of India's media.</p>.<p>The life-sized statue of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, complete with his signature moustache, has been installed in an exhibit at a museum in Karachi run by the Pakistan Air Force.</p>.<p>Varthaman's plane was shot down in a dogfight over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir in February during clashes which brought nuclear-armed India and Pakistan to the brink of a new war.</p>.<p>After his capture, the Pakistani military released video showing him sipping a cup of tea and politely refusing to answer questions.</p>.<p>His stoic and courteous demeanour -- and comment that the tea was "fantastic" -- catapulted him to hero status in India.</p>.<p>He was released several days later in a peace gesture from Pakistan aimed at defusing tensions.</p>.<p>The statue stands in a gallery named Operation Swift Retort.</p>.<p>The exhibit includes what Pakistan says are parts of the fuselage and tail of Varthaman's aircraft, a Mig-21, as well as a tea mug, though apparently not the same one the pilot was seen sipping from.</p>.<p>The gallery also contains images re-enacting the moment his plane was shot down, and photographs showing him being handed back to India at the Wagah border crossing.</p>.<p>A mess receipt jokingly charging Varthaman for the tea -- at the cost of one Mig-21 -- is also framed in the exhibit. Images of the mocking receipt went viral in the days after his capture.</p>.<p>The museum stands inside a recreational park for young people in Karachi, complete with decommissioned aircraft and other military hardware.</p>.<p>"I feel very proud of my country seeing Abhinandan's statue at the gallery," said Samiullah Bari, a 10th-grade student visiting the museum on a school trip.</p>.<p>Indians were less enthusiastic, however, with the Times of India newspaper calling the exhibit "a new low".</p>