It's been two years but for Pakistani Twitter, the tea is still fantastic

It has been two years since the Balakot airstrike and Pakistan shooting down an Indian plane but the tea is still piping hot in Pakistan.

If you aren't already aware, Pakistan shot down two Indian aircraft violating its airspace on February 27, 2019 and captured one pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. The source of all the memes and jokes is a video released by the military in which Abhinandan acknowledged he had been treated well and gave Pakistan the now infamous line "the tea was fantastic"

"I'd like to put this on record; I will not change my statement even when I go back to my country. The officers of the Pakistan Army have looked after me very well," Abhinandan acknowledged in the video.

"Starting from the captain who rescued me from the mob, from the soldiers, and thereafter the officers of the unit where I was taken to. I would expect my army to behave in the same way. And I'm very impressed with the Pakistan Army."

"I hope you like the tea?" the officer asked him, to which Abhinandan replied that: "The tea is fantastic, thank you."

And the meme was born.

Abhinandan was later freed as a gesture of peace on March 1 but we still haven't gotten over the tea. A statue of the Indian pilot was installed at the PAF Museum in Karachi and jokes continue to this day.

On Saturday, Feb 27, Twitter was overrun by Abhinandan-related trends. "Happy Surprise Day India", "Abhinandan", "Happy Tea Day" and "Chai" were some of the phrases and hashtags trending on Pakistani Twitter.

The 'pawri' continues.

Some people recycled old jokes about that being one expensive cup of tea.

There was even a cake!

People also started the 'World’s Biggest Tea Party' and began posting pictures of themselves and unwitting celebrities drinking tea.

![(https://twitter.com/DennisCricket_/status/1365508785742114816)

They didn't leave Abhinandan out of it either.

This user was right when she thanked Abhinandan for bringing out the creativity in Pakistanis.