‘Nothing surprising’: India responds to Pakistan's claims of downing Indian jets during Operation Sindoor

India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Thursday, in a rather sarcastic jibe, rebutted Pakistan's claims that they had shot down Indian jets. Misri remarked, “There is nothing surprising in it. After all, this is a country in which lies started as soon as it was born.”

Pakistan had claimed it shot down five Indian Air Force jets, including three Rafale fighters, a MiG-29, and a Su-30, during retaliatory strikes following India's military operation, Operation Sindoor, inside Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khwaja Asif had cited social media as evidence but failed to provide concrete proof when pressed, while India dismissed these claims as disinformation and pointed out that images circulated were from previous unrelated incidents.

Vikram Misri on Thursday said, “In 1947, when the Pakistani army claimed Jammu and Kashmir, they lied not to any random person but to the United Nations that we have nothing to do with it. So this journey started 75 years ago.”

India’s missile strikes early Wednesday morning targeted “terrorist infrastructure” across nine sites in Pakistan’s densely populated Punjab province and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, it said.

The Operation Sindoor was launched in response to a massacre by terrorists of tourists in Kashmir's Pahalgam on 22 April.

Pakistan Defense Minister Schooled by CNN Journalist

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khwaja Asif faced international embarrassment when, during a CNN interview, he cited social media videos as evidence to support Pakistan’s claim of downing five Indian Air Force jets amid rising tensions following India’s Operation Sindoor.

His reliance on unverified social media posts, particularly those from Indian platforms, was widely mocked and criticised, especially as he failed to provide any concrete proof when pressed.

When asked about evidence for the claims, Asif told CNN during an interview that it is "all over social media."

"The debris of these jets fell into Kashmir and it's all over Indian media. And their media has admitted," he said.

"You're the Defence Minister. The reason to talk to you today is not to talk about content all over social media," the CNN anchor responded.

Meanwhile, several pro-Pakistan accounts circulated fabricated reports and outdated images to bolster Islamabad’s narrative of retaliating against India’s targeted strikes on terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

India’s Press Information Bureau swiftly debunked these claims, highlighting the misuse of old footage unrelated to the current conflict. The pictures and videos Asif was talking about dates back to September 2024 when a MiG-29 fighter aircraft crashed in Barmer, Rajasthan.