Washington: The US is 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, the State Department has said.
The IAF Thursday displayed parts of an AMRAAM beyond visual range air-to-air missile as evidence to ‘conclusively’ prove that Pakistan deployed US-manufactured F-16 fighter jets during an aerial raid targeting Indian military installations in Kashmir after India’s anti-terror operation in Balakot .
Earlier Pakistan had Wednesday categorically said that no F-16 fighter jets were used and denied that one of its planes had been downed by the IAF.
“We are aware of these reports and are seeking more information,” a State Department spokesperson told this agency when asked about the report that Pakistan has violated end-user agreement with the United States in this week’s border clash with India.
“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 Defence Department spokesperson said Friday.
The United States, which is the largest seller of high-tech defence equipment globally, and has a strong end-user monitoring agreement, as a matter of practice takes all allegations of misuse of defence articles very seriously.
According to Pentagon’s Defense Security and Cooperation Agency (DSCA) F-16 jets were meant to be used to ‘enhance Pakistan’s ability to conduct counter-insurgency and counterterrorism operations’. Publicly available documents reveal that US has imposed nearly a dozen restriction on Pakistan related to its use of F-16 aircraft.
PTI