International
Truth always prevails, is the best policy, says Imran Khan over India’s claim of shooting down Pak’s F-16
Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan while reacting over the report that all Pakistani F-16 jets are accounted for which countered Indian claims, said that ‘truth always prevails’.
In a tweet, Khan said:
The truth always prevails and is always the best policy. BJP’s attempt to win elections through whipping up war hysteria and false claims of downing a Pak F 16 has backfired with US Defence officials also confirming that no F16 was missing from Pakistan’s fleet.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 6, 2019
On Friday, United States (US) officials did a count of Islamabad’s F-16 jets recently and found that none were missing, contradicting India’s claims that it shot down a Pakistani fighter jet amid heightened tensions between both countries after the Pulwama attack.According to a report by the Foreign Policy, one of the unnamed senior US defence officials “with direct knowledge of the count” said that Pakistan had invited the US to count its F-16 planes after the incident “as part of an end-user agreement signed when the foreign military sale was finalised”.
Foreign Policy added that Washington generally requires countries it strikes such agreements with to allow US officials to inspect equipment on a regular basis and to ensure that it is accounted for and safe.
The official explained that some of the aircraft were not immediately available for inspection after the Pak-India back-and-forth, so it took US personnel a few weeks to account for all the jets.
