The United States reprimanded Pakistan in August, accusing the country of misusing U.S.-supplied F-16 fighter jets and jeopardising their shared security, according to documents obtained by US News & World Report.
It also expressed its dismay in Pakistan for using its fleet of F-16s in violation of the original terms of sale.
A letter was sent by a top US diplomat to the chief of Pakistan’s Air Force in August, saying that the letter serves as a direct response to US concerns about the F-16s but without specifically referring to the February incident.
The letter was written by Andrea Thompson, then-undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs to Pakistan’s Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan.
According to the website, the letter warned Pakistan over its defiance of its agreement with the U.S by moving the F-16s and accompanying American-made missiles to unapproved forward operating bases. It also warned Pakistan that it risked the security of the weapons and "could undermine our shared security platforms and infrastructures".
Thompson wrote in the letter, "While we understand from you that these aircraft movements were done in support of national defence objectives, the US government considers the relocation of aircraft to non-US government authorised bases concerning and inconsistent with the F-16 Letter of Offer and Acceptance."
The United States had sold 18 F-16s in 2008 to Pakistan. While no specifics about end user agreements were available due to non-disclosure agreements, publicly available documents reveal that Washington had imposed nearly a dozen restrictions on Pakistan.
By far the Pakistani armed forces posses the most powerful fighter jets in its military arsenal, including 75 US-supplied F-16s. Pakistan first received the planes in 1982 and maintains them under strict rules imposed by the US.
Pakistan had claimed in March this year that no F-16 fighter jets were used during its conflict with India and denied that one of its planes had been shot down by the Indian Air Force.
