With Indian President Droupadi Murmu posing for a photograph with Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Shivangi Singh following the former’s sortie in a Rafale fighter jet, Indian media outlets are having a field day calling Pakistan out over its “lies”.
As per the details, several Indian media outlets have published fact checks regarding Singh not being in Pakistani custody since after May’s military clashes – a claim that Islamabad never even made.
Pakistan military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), had during a joint presser made it clear that no Indian pilot was in the country’s custody.
“No Indian pilot is in Pakistani custody,” the ISPR chief had said on May 11, calling the reports on social media “baseless and fabricated”.
He had gone on to explain that all Indian aircraft were shot down inside Indian territory after releasing their payloads that hit civilian areas in Pakistan. However, Indian media outlets had gone on to believe the fabricated story, only to reject it as a Pakistani claim five months later.
It merits a mention that in May this year, South Asia witnessed one of its most intense military escalations in recent years as Pakistan responded to cross-border Indian aggression, engaging in a four-day confrontation marked by air combat, electronic warfare and strategic strikes.
The confrontation that saw the downing of seven Indian aircraft, including at least three state-of-the-art Rafale jets, ended with a United States (US) brokered ceasefire following Pakistani strikes on multiple Indian military targets.