DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor on Thursday rejected media claims and called the Indian media’s attempts to vilify Pakistan’s image using fake news a measure of “their incompetence”.
The harsh worded tweet, from his personal account, came after Indian media alleged that India’s ports were on high alert after intelligence reports of imminent attacks from Pakistan-trained commandos.
The ISPR DG deemed the allegations “foolish and fake” and called them an attempt at a reply to the “professional and credible Pakistani media and ISPR”.
indian media, trolls and few pseudo …….. are giving foolish & fake news about Pakistan and its Armed Forces. They do this to respond to professional & credible Pakistani media and ISPR. Actually they are certifying their incompetence and implausibility.
— Asif Ghafoor (@peaceforchange) August 29, 2019
The tweet further said that such news stories only confirm the “incompetence and implausibility” of the Indian media.
Tensions run high between Pakistan and India since the Modi-led government revoked article 370 in Indian occupied Kashmir and consequently put the region in lockdown on August 5.
This is not India’s first attempt to spread propaganda and false news to try and discredit the Pakistan side during a high tension situation.
In February this year, within days of the Pulwama attack, Indian fighter jets violated Pakistan’s air space and dropped bombs in Balakot.
New Delhi claimed it targeted the so-called terrorist camps of Jaish-e-Mohammad, a claim not only rebutted by Islamabad but also by international media and other independent organisations.
Pakistan responded and launched airstrikes the next day. Its fighter jets dropped missiles in the open space in order to convey a message to India that Pakistan had the will and capacity to hit back.
The two neighbours were almost on the brink of war when Pakistani fighter jets shot down two Indian warplanes in a dogfight. One of the Indian pilots, who ejected the downed plane, was captured.
