India's claim of shooting down Pakistan's F-16 false: US officials

KARACHI: India’s claim of shooting down a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet in an aerial battle during the February standoff between the two nuclear powers have been debunked by   US Defence officials. Foreign Policy Magazine reported on  Thursday.

The US defense officials with direct knowledge of the situation told Foreign Policy that US personnel recently counted Islamabad’s F-16s and found none missing.

According to the reports, all the claims of Indian civil and military leadership appeared to be wrong as the count, conducted by US authorities on the ground in Pakistan negated New Delhi’s version of events, suggesting that Indian authorities may have misled the international community about what happened that day.

The Modi government's claim to hit Pak jet after February 27 dogfight, days before the start of India’s general elections, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi's seeking another term in office, which, according to some experts, might be to gain political mileage by the ruling party.

It is pertinent to note that, Pakistan had shot down two Indian aircraft violating its airspace and captured Abhinandan, who was later released in a gesture of peace.