India Counters Pakistani Disinformation Campaign Following Operation Sindoor
In the wake of India’s precision strikes against terrorist infrastructure within Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) under "Operation Sindoor," a wave of disinformation originating from Pakistan has flooded social media platforms. The Press Information Bureau’s (PIB) Fact Check unit has been working diligently to debunk these fabricated claims, exposing a coordinated effort to mislead the public and distort the narrative surrounding the operation. These false narratives, disseminated through social media, range from fictitious Indian military setbacks to exaggerated Pakistani successes, aiming to sow confusion and undermine India’s military actions.
One of the most prominent examples of this disinformation campaign involved a video circulated widely by Pakistani social media accounts, falsely depicting a strike on an Indian military base in Amritsar. The PIB Fact Check unit swiftly identified the video as footage of a 2024 wildfire, completely unrelated to the current situation. This incident underscores the deceptive tactics employed in the disinformation campaign, exploiting pre-existing footage to create a false impression of military action. The PIB has issued warnings, urging citizens to rely solely on official government sources for accurate information and to avoid sharing unverified content that could further fuel the spread of misinformation.
Another fabricated claim involved the alleged interception of an Indian drone by Pakistani forces in Gujranwala. This claim, accompanied by an older, unrelated image, was quickly debunked by the PIB. The recurrent use of outdated imagery highlights the opportunistic nature of the disinformation campaign, capitalizing on readily available visual material to construct false narratives. The PIB’s prompt fact-checking efforts have played a crucial role in exposing these attempts to manipulate public perception.
The disinformation campaign extended beyond fabricated military engagements, encompassing a range of misleading narratives. An old video from 2019 showing the Pakistan Army raising a white flag to recover the bodies of its soldiers was misrepresented as a scene of Indian surrender at the Line of Control (LoC). Similarly, a video of a Mirage 2000 crash during a routine Indian Air Force training mission in 2025 near Gwalior was falsely presented as footage of a Pakistani downing of an Indian fighter jet. These instances demonstrate the breadth of the disinformation campaign, manipulating existing content to craft a misleading narrative of Indian military vulnerability.
The Pakistani disinformation offensive, launched in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, has involved a coordinated effort across various platforms. State-affiliated accounts and pro-Pakistan influencers have disseminated fabricated stories, including claims of downed Rafale jets, destroyed brigade headquarters, and Indian military surrender. These false narratives were often accompanied by manipulated or out-of-context images, such as a 2021 MiG-21 crash in Punjab misrepresented as the downing of a Rafale near Bahawalpur. Old visuals from MiG-29 crashes and unrelated sectarian clashes were also falsely presented as airstrikes on Indian airbases.
The involvement of Pakistani officials, including Minister Attaullah Tarar and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, in promoting these unverified claims further amplified the reach of the disinformation campaign. While Asif later retracted his claim regarding the capture of Indian soldiers due to a lack of supporting evidence, the initial dissemination of such claims by government officials contributed to the spread of misinformation and fueled public speculation. The PIB’s proactive approach in identifying and debunking these false narratives has been instrumental in countering the disinformation campaign and ensuring the dissemination of accurate information. The ongoing efforts to expose these fabricated claims highlight the importance of critical media literacy and reliance on verified sources in the face of online disinformation.
