ISLAMABAD – The U.S. government has reportedly declined India’s request toshare information on the use of F-16 fighter jets by the Pakistan Air Force(PAF) during a dogfight along the Line of Control (LoC) on February 27 whenIndian Air Force (IAF) violated Pakistan’s airspace.
“Soon after we were informed by the Indian side about Pakistan using F-16aircraft on February 27, we informed the Indians that we will not besharing any information on the subject as it is a bilateral matter betweenthe US and Pakistan”, according to an American official who reported on thecondition of anonymity.
New Delhi had claimed that Pakistan had scrambled a F-16 fighter jet in thedogfight.
According to the source, the US would come up with the same response if athird party were to ask for information about any military equipmentdeployed by India.
“If a third country tomorrow wants information about the C130 or C17 orApaches that the IAF uses, our answer would be the same. It is a bilateralmatter between India and the US”, the official added.
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The source continued by saying that India had failed to present anyevidence to corroborate its accusations against Pakistan, and the onlything the US has seen was “what was presented in the Indian media”.
The Indian side has claimed that it had downed a PAF F-16 and displayedfragments of an AMRAAM medium-range missile that was recovered in theIndian-administered part of Kashmir, alleging that they had been launchedby a US-made jet.
Pakistan, for its part, has strongly denied the allegations, insisting thatit has not lost any aircraft.
