Top US Diplomat Had Confronted Pakistan For Misusing F-16 Jets Against India In Post-Balakot Raid: Report

A few months after Pakistan launched an air strike using American F-16s against India in retaliation to Balakot air strike, a top US diplomat had sent a written letter of reprimand to the Pakistani air force, reports US News.

In that letter Pakistan was accused of “misusing US-supplied F-16 fighter jets and jeopardising their shared security,” claims the report.

On 26 February Pakistan had launched an air attack against Indian military installations in Kashmir even though India had only attacked a terror camp located within Pakistan territory. This act by Pakistan was a direct “a fundamental violation by Pakistan of the terms governing the sale of its US fighter jets.”

The letter was written by Andrea Thompson, then-undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs and it was addressed to Pakistani Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan.

The letter clearly implied that Pakistan had every intention of using F-16s and its American weapons packages like the AMRAAM missiles.

Thompson said, “This was in defiance of its agreement with the US and such behavior risked allowing these weapons to fall into the hands of malign actors and could undermine our shared security platforms and infrastructures."

This letter is a clear admission that the US was convinced about Pakistan using its F-16s which was a clear violation of the original terms of the sale.

Thompson wrote in the letter, "the US government considers the relocation of aircraft to non-U.S. government authorized bases concerning and inconsistent with the F-16 Letter of Offer and Acceptance. Such actions could subject sensitive US-technologies to diversion to or access by third parties, and could undermine our shared security platforms and infrastructures."