Pakistan’s Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif, has admitted that the country's claim of downing five Indian Air Force jets, including Rafale aircraft, during India’s ‘Operation Sindoor’ is based solely on social media content. In an interview with CNN, when questioned about any concrete proof behind the assertion, Asif replied, “It’s all on social media—and not ours, but Indian social media. The debris reportedly fell on their side. It’s all over Indian media.”

This statement comes amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan, following India’s military operation on Wednesday targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK). The strike was a response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam. India, in response to Pakistan’s claims, accused pro-Pakistan groups of spreading misinformation. The Press Information Bureau’s (PIB) fact-checking unit highlighted that a widely shared image supposedly showing a downed Rafale was actually an old photo of a MiG-21 crash in Punjab in 2021. “Beware of outdated images being used in the current context,” the PIB warned via X, labeling the image as misleading.

Addressing the broader implications of the conflict, Asif told CNN that Pakistan is attempting to avoid a full-scale war. “There’s a real risk of this escalating into a major conflict, which we’re actively trying to prevent,” he said. He added in a separate interview with Bloomberg that Pakistan is open to easing tensions if India de-escalates. Meanwhile, India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh praised ‘Operation Sindoor’, calling it a mission carried out with “precision, precaution, and compassion,” and commended the armed forces for making history by neutralizing the terror threat.