Pakistan's defence minister, Khawaja Asif, has attributed his country's claim that its forces downed five Indian jets – including Rafales – during Operation Sindoor to social media reports.
Asif made the bizarre statement during a CNN interview when a journalist asked him if Pakistan had any evidence to prove its claim.
"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," he claimed when the journalist pressed for evidence.
India on Wednesday morning targeted terrorist installations, including training camps and launchpads, in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, killing scores of terrorists and avenging the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
Also read: After Operation Sindoor, Pakistan offers to ‘wrap up tension if India backs down’
Pakistan has acknowledged the attack and the casualties.Later, the fact-checking unit of India's Press Information Bureau reported that Pakistani social media channels had been sharing an old and unrelated photo of a crashed plane and trying to pass it off as a downed Rafale. It said the image was from a crash in 2021.
"Beware of old images shared by pro-Pakistan handles in the present context! 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," it shared on its X handle.
{{/usCountry}}"Beware of old images shared by pro-Pakistan handles in the present context! 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," it shared on its X handle.
{{/usCountry}}Asif further said in the interview that Pakistan was trying to avoid a full-fledged war with India.
"There is a possibility of expansion of this conflict into a full-fledged war, which we are trying to avoid," Asif told CNN.
The attack early Wednesday was a "clear-cut violation, and an invitation to expand the conflict and maybe convert it into something much wider and much more dangerous for the region," he added.
Also read: Operation Sindoor live updates: Centre's all-party meeting today; India on alert
He, however, said Pakistan is ready for an all-out war.
Asif told Bloomberg Television earlier in the day that Pakistan is ready to wrap up tensions with India if New Delhi de-escalates the situation.
"We have been saying all along in the last fortnight that we’ll never initiate anything hostile towards India. But if we're attacked, we'll respond. If India backs down, we will definitely wrap up this tension," he said.
Pakistan's top security body on Wednesday said the armed forces have been authorised to undertake retaliation "at a time, place, and manner of its choosing" to avenge the loss of lives in the Indian military strikes.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh said India's military scripted "history" by acting with "precision, precaution and compassion" in destroying the terror camps.