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Pakistan Cornered As Washington Asks For More Details On F-16 Misuse

The US is asking for more details regarding Pakistan’s alleged misuse of the F-16 aircraft against India. India shared deatils of AMRAAM missile with Washington that was fired from the F-16 fighter jet by Pakistan. 

Pakistan Shoots Down Two Indian Fighter Jets But May Retract Statement

 

The news reports quoted US State Department as saying, “We are aware of these reports and are seeking more information on the potential misuse of American-made F-16 fighter jets by Pakistan against India in violation of the end-user agreement.”

“Due to non-disclosure agreements in Foreign Military Sales contracts, we cannot discuss the specifics of end user-agreements contained within,” Lt Col Kone Faulkner, a Defense Department spokesperson told media.

Indian Air Force (IAF) presented parts of a fired AMRAAM missile to prove that Pakistan deployed US-manufactured F-16 fighter jets while targeting Indian military installations in Kashmir. The contract details and the part of the missile show the use of F-16s in the air strike since the US, which sold the fighter jets to Pakistan, does not allow these platforms to be used in an offensive role”, said the sources informing media.
Pakistan claimed that no F-16 was part of the operation. In contrast, recently, Minister of Information and Broadcasting,  Fawad Chaudhry challenging the agreement of the fighter Aircraft told the media organisations, “We purchased them from America and didn’t get them in a grant. So we’ll decide where to deploy them.”  

At a joint briefing by the armed forces, Air Vice Marshal R G K Kapoor said:  “There is enough evidence to show that F-16s were used in this mission and Pakistan is trying to hide this fact. Also, parts of AMRAAM air-to-air missile, which is carried only on the F-16s in PAF, were recovered east of Rajouri within Indian territory.”

The US has imposed nearly a dozen restriction on Pakistan related to its use of F-16. Hence, before jumping at any conclusion, it need to find whether there has been any violation by Pakistan to the F-16 end-user agreement it signed by the United States. The media quoted Pentagon’s Defense Security and Cooperation Agency (DSCA) as saying, “F-16 jets were meant to be used to enhance Pakistan’s ability to conduct counter-insurgency and counterterrorism operations.”

More News at EurAsian Times

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