India, Oct. 2 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Captain Smit Machchhar on Friday and praised the Indian pilot for his courage, presence of mind and composure during the flydubai flight emergency on September 30.

PM Modi connected with Machchhar through a video call and told him that his actions had saved everyone on board the flight. "If you hadn't done what you did, who knows what people would have said about Indian pilots or how Indian pilots would have been seen. You have saved everyone. You have done something massive," the prime minister said.

The virtual interaction came two days after Machchhar was being stabbed by his co-pilot during the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv.

Capt Machchhar saved 174 lives on board a flydubai fl...