Daily Times

Washington said on Sunday it was trying to find out if Pakistan used US-built F-16 jets to down two Indian warplanes, potentially in violation of US agreements, as the stand-off between the nuclear-armed Asian neighbours appeared to be easing.

Pakistan and India both carried out aerial bombing missions this week, including a clash on Wednesday that saw two Indian jets shot down and an Indian Air Force pilot captured in an incident that alarmed global powers and sparked fears of a war.

A Pakistan military spokesman on Wednesday denied Indian claims that Islamabad used F-16 jets.

Pakistan returned the captured Indian pilot on Friday in a high-profile handover Islamabad touted as a ‘peace gesture’, which appeared to significantly dial down tensions, but both sides remain on high alert.

At the Line of Control (LoC), there was relative calm in the past 24 hours, both armies said on Sunday. But Indian security forces were carrying out major operations in the occupied valley and martyred two freedom fighters.

The US embassy in Islamabad said on Sunday it was looking into reports that Pakistan used F-16 jets to shoot down the Indian warplane, a potential violation of Washington’s military sale agreements that limit how Pakistan can use the planes.

“We are aware of these reports and are seeking more information,” a US embassy spokesperson said. “We take all allegations of misuse of defense articles very seriously.”

US embassy in Islamabad says Washington takes all allegations of misuse of defense articles very seriously

While Pakistan has denied using F-16 jets during a dogfight that downed an Indian Mig-21 warplane over Kashmir on Wednesday, it has not specified which planes it used, though it assembles Chinese-designed JF-17 fighter jets on its soil.

Pakistan has a long history of buying US military hardware, especially in the years after 2001 when Islamabad was seen as a key partner in the US-led war on terror.

Pakistan bought several batches of F-16 planes, built by Lockheed Martin Corp, from Washington before relations soured and the United States cut off subsidized sales in 2016.

It is not clear what exactly these so-called ‘end-user agreements’ restrict Pakistan from doing. “The US Government does not comment on or confirm pending investigations of this nature,” the US Embassy added.

On Thursday, Indian officials displayed to reporters parts of what they called an air-to-air missile that can only be fired from F-16 jets, alleging they were used to bomb the occupied valley on Wednesday.

A Pakistan military spokesman told reporters on Wednesday that Pakistani jets ‘locked’ on Indian targets to demonstrate Pakistan’s capacity to strike back at India, but then chose to fire in an empty field where there would be no casualties.

Pakistan said its mission on Wednesday was in retaliation for India violating its airspace and sovereignty a day earlier, when Indian jets bombed a forest area near Balakot.

India claimed it struck at a militant training camp, but Islamabad denied any such camps existed, as did some villagers in the area.

Cross-border shelling in the past few days has killed seven people in Azad Kashmir and four in Held Kashmir. But on Sunday, it was relatively quiet near the Line of Control, the source of two of the three wars India and Pakistan have fought since independence from Britain in 1947.

Published in Daily Times, March 4^th 2019.