Last week’s shoot-down of an Indian MiG-21 by the Pakistani Air Force has drawn the attention of the United States, as the administration is now asking whether or not US-made warplanes sold to Pakistan were used in the incident, potentially violating agreements about how the jets would be used.
India is insisting that Pakistan definitely violated their deal with the US, and shot down the MiG-21 with F-16 jets. India has also claimed that US-made missiles were fired in the shoot down.
Pakistan denies that this is the case, however, and the Pakistani Air Force does have other planes capable of carrying out these attacks. Chinese media have speculated that it was a Chinese-made JF-17 that actually shot down the MiG-21.
One retired Pakistani Air Force Air Marshall, Shahid Latif, who was project director for Pakistan’s JF-17 joint production project claimed that the jets were responsible for shooting down the Indian jets.
US Asks If Pakistan Used American-Made Jets to Shoot Down Indian Warplane
India says F-16s used, but Pakistan denies this
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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