India, Feb. 21 -- On February 16, citing an open-source intelligence account, local news outlets flagged something unusual over Pakistan's skies: a 2019-manufactured Gulfstream GVII-G500 luxury jet, bearing US registration number N144S.

The jet flew from Lahore to Sialkot in Pakistan's Punjab province that day under the call sign 'Punjab 2', a designation conventionally used when the Pak Punjab chief minister is on board, The Express Tribune reported citing The Stratcom Bureau. Other aviation observers checked and chimed in too.

The aircraft has not been formally announced as acquired by the Punjab government of chief minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, nor has its cost been officially revealed. The approval process is not public either, note...