India sought these iron clad guarantees after it burnt its fingers during Pakistani Air Force retaliation on February 27, 2019, a day after the Balakot strike. On that day, Pakistan reneged on its promise to the Americans that it would only use F-16 aircraft in the war against terror and not against India. The Pentagon had previously assured India that Islamabad would not use the F-16 or the missiles against India. Analysts say that the F-16 incident may have well forced the Indian Air Force to acquire the Meteor missile for Rafale. The no escape zone of this missile is way beyond the missiles carried by US or Chinese aircraft flown by the Pakistani air force.

Source: Hindustan Times February 27, 2021 01:22 UTC