India can't drag Pakistan to international courts for using F-16 in Feb 27 invasion: Report

Amid ongoing tension between India and Pakistan, a latest report suggests that New Delhi can’t drag Islamabad to international courts over the use of F-16 fighter jets in the February 27 airspace invasion. According to ‘The Print’ report, the contract between Pakistan and Lockheed Martin don’t hold any legal validity. This means that the terms in the end-user agreement are not legally binding. Quoting an American envoy, The Print said that, “the US will not be able to do much on this.”   

The report comes at a time when the US officially said that it was looking into the matter. The United States has sought more information from Pakistan on the potential misuse of F-16 fighter jets against India in violation of what it is called the end-user agreement, the State Department said. Pakistan had acquired the F-16 fighter jets from US to ‘fight against terrorism’ in 2008. However, the country has long been using the assets acquired from the US against India.

RELATED

During a joint military press conference on Thursday, India had shown parts of an AMRAAM beyond visual range air-to-air missile to prove that Pakistan deployed US-manufactured F-16 fighter jets during an aerial raid targeting Indian military posts in Kashmir following India’s anti-terror strike on JeM camp in Balakot.

During the misadventure, Indian Air Force jets shot down an F-16 fighter jet. However, Pakistan denied the Indian claims of using F-16 fighter jets and that one of its planes was shot down by Indian Air Force.

“We are aware of these reports and are seeking more information,” news agency PTI quoted a State Department spokesperson as saying when asked about report that Pakistan has violated end-user agreement with the United States in this week’s border clash with India.