Pakistan Air Force Is ‘Undisputed King’? India Fact-Checks Propaganda
The government fact-checked claims against Pak air strikes on a military facility in Punjab's Amritsar too, observing, in this case, that images from a 2004 wildfire were being deliberately presented fraudulently.
New Delhi:
The government has junked propaganda – seemingly from a well-respected British newspaper, The Daily Telegraph – that hailed the Pakistan Air Force ‘the undisputed king of the skies’.
On a fact-check post on X Friday morning, the government denounced the picture that was going viral on social media and claimed that the photograph was doctored or edited using AI (Artificial Intelligence).
The Daily Telegraph “never published any such article”, the government insisted.
A screenshot of the photo – a May 10 front-page headline, the day Pak approached India for a ceasefire – quoted “experts” to have hailed the PAF as “feared, respected, and remarkably efficient”.
Actually, an Austrian combat flying analyst has told NDTV India’s response to Pakistani aggression after Operation Sindoor was a “clear-cut victory”.
Tom Cooper informed NDTV that Pakistan had been forced to begin the ceasefire process due to India’s superior firepower and its multi-layered air defence system.
Specifically regarding the Indian Air Force he stated, “With at least two of PAF’s HQ-9s (Chinese-built air defense systems) taken out two days ago, and the PAF tamed enough to refrain from firing PL-15s into Indian airspace. within the span of three hours IAF Su-30MKI-, Mirage 2000- and Rafale-crews found sufficient opportunities to inflict a couple of really severe blows.
In the wake of diplomatic and military friction between Islamabad and New Delhi – in the wake of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam last month – social media accounts from Pak and elsewhere have been accused of propagating false narratives and fake news.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khwaja Asif has also been rapped; last week Mr Asif was put under the fact-checker’s microscope during an interview on US broadcaster CNN. He had claimed the PAF had shot down one of India’s French-built Rafale fighter aircraft, which Delhi quickly dismissed.
CNN’s Becky Anderson, on the other hand, requested proof or information regarding the allegations, but the Pak Defence Minister appeared not able to provide any and attempted to deflect more questions.
The government, on its part, debunked social media reports of a Rafale being lost, explaining that the picture shared on social media was an older photograph from 2021 of a Mig-21.
The government also fact-checked reports regarding Pak air attacks on a Pak military base in Amritsar, Punjab, observing, in this case, that footage of a 2004 wildfire was being used falsely.
There had been a surge in the deluge of disinformation and propaganda from the Pak establishment after India’s military began Operation Sindoor – surgical attacks on terror camps in Pak and Pak-occupied Kashmir – and the government has noted it.
Sources added that by inundating social media with old pictures, unrelated videos, and false reports, Pak was trying to cover up the true result of Op Sindoor and provide the impression of a robust counter-reaction, as also try to create global sympathy.
Sources added the government has also been recording every episode so that Pak cannot play the ostrich game of hiding behind a virtual wall of deceit, and had ordered every branch of the military to record its attacks and operations, visually, so that India can validate its version of events.
