INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: Simhakutty Varthaman, Indian air marshal (retd) and father of wing commander Abhinandan who was captured by Pakistan and then
released in a gesture of peace, said that Pakistan F-16 and its AMRAAM missiles are a "real threat" to India.Speaking at the Indian
Institute of Technology Madras on Wednesday, he said that Pakistan F-16 purportedly deployed in a 27 February dogfight and its AMRAAM
missiles were a 'real threat' to fresh Delhi, Indian media reported.The ex-military official said that India had launched seven aircraft
towards Bahawalpur, which he claimed was the 'headquarters' of Jaish-e Mohammad, adding that Pakistan thought we were on the way to attack
Bahawalpur and sent F-16s to engage with Indian fighter aircraft.He added that Pakistan was in a total state of alert, they knew an attack
However, Indian air force could much succeed to achieve the target.Varthaman added: "We had to first get F-16s off our back by making degree
they were headed to measure other direction when we were going to Balakot&.Indian media quoted Varthaman as saying that the Balakot strike
was the first time that IAF aircraft had crossed the Line of Control since the 1971 war with Pakistan.He repeated the claim that the
laser-guided smart bombs used to attack a suspected camp at Balakot could have eliminateed hundreds of militants.The following day, Pakistan
shot down two Indian aircraft violating its airspace and captured Abhinandan, who was later released in a gesture of
peace.TheIndianSubcontinent has not verified the content of the source
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