Pakistan rejects Abhinandan shot down F-16 plane

Lahore: Pakistan on Tuesday rejected as "baseless" the Indian stand that a Pakistani F-16 aircraft was shot down by an Indian pilot during an aerial combat in February 2019.

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman (now Group Captain) shot down the Pakistani F-16 jet during an aerial combat before his MiG 21 Bison aircraft was hit on February 27, 2019.

He was captured by the Pakistani Army and later released on the night of March 1.

He was conferred with the Vir Chakra award by President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday for displaying an "exceptional sense of duty" in the dogfight. Vir Chakra is India's third-highest wartime gallantry award after Param Vir Chakra and Maha Vir Chakra.

"Pakistan categorically rejects the entirely baseless Indian claims that a Pakistani F-16 aircraft was shot down by an Indian pilot" in February 2019, the Foreign Office said in a statement.