New Delhi:
India has strongly criticised Chinese state media Global Times for spreading disinformation to mislead the public on India’s cruise missile strikes at terror infrastructure deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK).
Global Times had run reports using old images of crashed aircraft in the context of Operation Sindoor, as part of which India launched 24 precision missile strikes in nine locations that were identified as hubs of terrorist activity.
“Dear Global Times, we would recommend you verify your facts and cross-examine your sources before pushing out this kind of disinformation,” the Indian embassy in China said in a post on X.
“Several pro-Pakistan handles are spreading baseless claims in the context of Operation Sindoor, attempting to mislead the public. When media outlets share such information without verifying sources, it reflects a serious lapse in responsibility and journalistic ethics,” the embassy said.
The government pointed out that the centre’s fact-checker PIB Face Check had brought to light instances of fake news with old images showing crashed aircraft being recirculated in various forms in the current context of Operation Sindoor.
While one is from an earlier incident involving an Indian Air Force (IAF) MiG-29 fighter jet that crashed in Rajasthan in September 2024, the other is an IAF MiG-21 fighter jet from Punjab in 2021.
India drew Global Times’ attention to the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22 that killed 26 tourists.
“Allow us to bring to your knowledge facts of the issue. On April 22, 2025, Pakistani and Pakistan-trained terrorists belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out a savage terror attack on Indian tourists at Pahalgam in Jammu & Kashmir in India. They targeted a particular community by asking people to identify themselves by their religion and murdered 26 people, including one national of Nepal, causing the largest number of civilian casualties in a terrorist attack in India since the November 26, 2008 attacks in Mumbai,” the Indian embassy said.
(1/n) Dear @globaltimesnews , we would recommend you verify your facts and cross-examine your sources before pushing out this kind of dis-information. https://t.co/xMvN6hmrhe
— India in China (@EOIBeijing) May 7, 2025
India said the attack in Pahalgam was marked by extreme barbarity, with the victims mostly killed with headshots from close range and in front of their families.
The family members were deliberately traumatised through the manner of the killing, accompanied by the exhortation that they should take back the message, India said.
“A group calling itself The Resistance Front (TRF) has claimed responsibility for the attack. This group is a front for the UN-proscribed Pakistani terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Taiba. India had given inputs about the TRF in the half-yearly report to the Monitoring Team of the UN’s 1267 Sanctions Committee in May and November 2024, bringing out its role as a cover for Pakistan-based terrorist groups,” the embassy said.
Earlier too, in December 2023, India had informed the monitoring team about LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) operating through small terror groups such as the TRF. Pakistan’s pressure to remove references to TRF in the April 25 UN Security Council Press Statement is notable in this regard, India said.
“… Despite a fortnight having passed since the attacks, there has been no demonstrable step from Pakistan to take action against the terrorist infrastructure on its territory or on territory under its control. Instead, all it has indulged in are denials and allegations. Our intelligence monitoring of Pakistan-based terrorist modules indicated that further attacks against India were impending,” the embassy said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today thanked the armed forces for the successful cruise missile strikes. Mr Singh said India exercised its right to respond after the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
The locations hit by Indian cruise missiles are Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Bahawalpur, Rawalakot, Chakswari, Bhimber, Neelum Valley, Jhelum, and Chakwal. All of them had been identified as hubs of terrorist activity.
