ISLAMABAD   -  The military on Monday said that it was meaningless to question whether Pakistan used JF-17 Thunder jets or US-built F-16s to shoot down two Indian warplanes during an air battle that took place on February 27.

The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said this in a statement while responding to repeated claims of Indian government and its media about shooting down Pakistani F-16 fighter jet during the dogfight and that Pakistan used F-16 jets in the fight.

On February 27, Pakistan Air Force had shot down two Indian warplanes which had entered into its airspace and had also taken into its custody a pilot of Indian Air Force.

“Pakistan reserves the right to use any of its ability according to its choice for its self-defence,” the statement said adding the incident of February 27 was now part of the history.It added that first PAF’s JF-17s had made strikes across Line of Control (LoC) from within Pakistan airspace. And later on, when Indian air jets violated Pakistan’s space, PAF targeted these jets in self-defence. "Whether these two Indian jets were targeted by F-16 or JF-17, this question is meaningless," the ISPR said. ISPR further said that all of PAF's airplanes including F-16s were airborne when the Indian planes crossed the LOC.

The statement underscored that India could "pick any jet of its choice, even F-16" but that would not change the end result of the air battle. "If Pakistan used F-16 jets, even then, two Indian jets were targeted,” the statement concluded.