Islamabad: Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has acknowledged that the country’s assertion of having shot down five Indian jets, including Rafale fighters, during India’s ‘Operation Sindoor’. is based on ‘social media posts.’
In an interview with CNN, Asif was asked whether Islamabad had concrete evidence to support its claim. He responded, “It is all on social media, and Indian social media, not our social media. The debris of the jets fell on their side. It is all over the Indian media.”
The statement came as tensions between India and Pakistan escalated following an Indian military strike early Wednesday that targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK). The strikes were in retaliation for the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam.
India calls out misinformation, cites old aircraft crash
Following Pakistan’s claims, India’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) fact-checking unit countered with evidence suggesting that pro-Pakistan accounts were circulating an unrelated image to back the downing of a Rafale.
“Beware of old images shared by pro-Pakistan handles in the present context!” the PIB posted on its official X handle. “An old image showing a crashed aircraft is being circulated with the claim that Pakistan recently shot down an Indian Rafale jet near Bahawalpur during the ongoing Operation Sindoor. #PIBFactCheck: This image is from an earlier incident involving an IAF MiG-21 fighter jet that crashed in Moga district in Punjab in 2021.”
Pakistan warns of escalation, seeks to avoid full-scale war
Speaking further to CNN, Asif said Islamabad was trying to avoid a broader conflict. “There is a possibility of expansion of this conflict into a full-fledged war, which we are trying to avoid,” he noted, warning that India’s action could “widen hostilities”.
Earlier in the day, in a separate interview with Bloomberg Television, the Pakistani defence minister said the country was open to reducing tensions, provided India steps back.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh lauded ‘Operation Sindoor’, stating that it was executed with “precision, precaution and compassion”. He said the armed forces had scripted “history” in neutralising the terror threat.
