ISLAMABAD – Islamabad firmly rejected the baseless Indian claims ofshooting a Pakistani F-16 jet in 2019 aerial combat.
Indian air force’s narrative is not based on facts but rhetoric uttered bythe Modi-led government to stay in news and win elections.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) stated “Thecitation of the award to the downed Indian pilot is a classic case ofIndian fabrications and pure fantasy to appease the domestic audience andhide the embarrassment.”
Modi-led government’s insistence on propagating a lie that has beenthoroughly exposed is ludicrous and nonsensical. Granting military honoursfor imaginary feats of gallantry is contrary to every norm of militaryconduct, it said, adding “By giving such award, also as an afterthought,India has only made a mockery of itself”.
Foreign experts and US officials, after taking stock of Pakistani F-16aircraft, have already established that no Pakistani F-16 was shot downduring the dog fight.
The count conducted by US officials on the ground in Pakistan, opposed theIndian version of events, suggesting that Indian authorities misled theinternational community about what happened in Feb 2019.
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As of now, New Delhi has failed to give any shreds of evidence to counterPakistan’s position on shooting multirole fighter aircraft.
MOFA responded after IAF captain Abhinandan Varthaman was awarded thegallantry award for shooting down a Pakistani aircraft during combathowever the war experts termed the conferment of award to Abhinandan – whowas captured by Pakistan – tantamount to undermining the worth of thenational award and making a mockery of those who actually fought for thecountry.
In February 2019, two Indian aircraft were shot down by Pakistan Air Forcein daylight action and one of the Mig-21 Bison aircraft fell down in AzadJammu and Kashmir while the other one SU 30 shot fell on the other side ofLOC.
