The India-Pakistan conflict may have ended militarily. But during & after the fighting, a blitz of info warfare raged online. It’s time to understand how this info war took over the internet, with certain countries siding with Pakistan to peddle their full-blown propaganda
From fake news to doctored videos to deepfakes & recycled war porn, the India-Pakistan conflict exposed the scale of global propaganda—from China to Turkey to Bangladesh—as Pakistan & its allies launched a full-blown disinfo blitz against India in view of #OperationSindoor
Post Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistan started leveraging its access to Western media like its next-door neighbour to push its anti-India propaganda. Pak journalists at CNN, Reuters, Bloomberg, NYT, began publishing anti-India narratives with baseless claims & no evidence.
Pakistan
Exhibit A:
On May 8, DGISPR peddled their first official blatant lie that they didn’t attack civilian areas in Amritsar and accused India of ‘false flag’. Just the next day they forgot about it and instead thumped their chest celebrating Pak’s attack in Amritsar!
Exhibit B:
DGISPR officially ran this propaganda when they played a doctored clip of Wing Commander Vyomika Singh ‘admitting’ to Pakistan’s attack, & damage only on military targets in India. FACT: DGISPR conveniently cut out the part from the video mentioning how Pakistan attacked civilian areas to suit their propaganda that they don’t attack civilians!
Exhibit C:
On May 1, 2025, Pakistan’s ISPR ran a disinfo campaign by circulating ‘classified RAW documents’ (exposed as fake!) to target India. It was a joint psy-op b/w Pakistan Strategic Forum (PSF) & terror group The Resistance Front (TRF).
Exhibit D:
While Pakistan ran a cocktail of disinformation & misinformation, it was the DGISPR that ended up officiating the fake propaganda. On May 11, DGISPR used a 2-year-old image from 2023 to falsely show their “current” Navy preparedness against India.
Exhibit E:
DGISPR manipulated an Aaj Tak news clip to claim an Indian airfield was destroyed. The original footage actually showed Pakistan’s airfield being hit by Indian forces. They simply edited it to flip the narrative, as confirmed by Indian fact-checkers.
Exhibit F:
In another blatant fabrication, DGISPR showed an edited India TV News clip, falsely suggesting Indian media had admitted to the destruction of their own airbases. Classic manipulation technique: take a real source and completely twist the context.
Exhibit G:
The Pakistani government’s official handle shared a VIDEO GAME clip claiming it showed them shooting down Indian aircraft! The footage was actually from a PC game showing a Close-In Weapon System engaging a target. Information Minister Tarar praised this “nerve-wracking response.”
Exhibit H:
Pakistan circulated a FAKE CNN graphic showing casualty stats that were never reported by CNN. Meanwhile, DGISPR claimed attacks on 26 Indian military facilities without providing any satellite imagery or evidence. Indian sources only confirmed 5 affected bases.
Exhibit I:
Pakistani social media fabricated the capture of Wing Commander Shivangi Singh, spreading fake images across platforms. Even Al Jazeera initially reported this false story before issuing a correction. DGISPR later admitted they had NOT captured any Indian pilot. The only fakery confessed by DGISPR.
Exhibit J:
General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry falsely claimed India requested a ceasefire and raised white flags at two military posts. The “proof” video was actually from 2019, showing Pakistani soldiers retrieving bodies.
Exhibit K:
DGISPR recycled old footage of sectarian clashes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from early 2024, debunked by @PIBFactCheck, and presented it as “evidence” of their attack on Srinagar Airbase. This deliberate mis-attribution shows the extent of their disinformation campaign.
Exhibit L:
Pakistan claimed to have shot down 5 Indian fighter jets, sharing unverified/ doctored images as “proof.” These were actually photos from a 2024 MiG-29 crash in Rajasthan and a 2014 Su-30MKI crash in Maharashtra. India’s Air Marshal confirmed all Operation Sindoor pilots returned safely.
This state of exposed misinformation campaign by Pakistan’s DGISPR stands exposed. However, their propaganda found global allies predominantly in the form of Turkey & China. India confirmed that Pakistan used Turkish & Chinese drones & missiles against India.
Turkey
The India-Pakistan conflict exposed the alliance b/w China, Turkey & terror-state Pakistan. Turkey fuelled Pakistan’s info war by amplifying false narratives. These include shaping narratives & perceptions using state-funded media & social media propaganda machinery
Exhibit A:
State-run TRT World echoed DG ISPR’s fake claims, like Indian airbase destruction, despite no evidence. Turkey-state funded agencies, TRT World & Anadolu Agency ran Pakistani narrative laced with biased reporting & unverified claims aimed at explicitly towing the Pakistani narrative.
Exhibit B:
TRT World has a chronic bias aligned with Pakistan’s claims. TRT World published over 30 long stories while India abrogated Articles 370 & 35 A of the Indian constitution related to J&K & interestingly, 14 of them were also recommended by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.
Exhibit C:
TRT gave platform to Nasir Qadri, a Pak national & h/o Legal Forum for Kashmir (LFOVK), who pushed Israel-India alliance narrative during India-Pak 2025 conflict. Qadri accused India of adopting Israel’s settler-colonial tactics, concocted by transnational alliance of Muslim Brotherhood, Pak, & Jamaat-e-Islami.
Exhibit D:
LFOVK, along with UK-based Stoke White, whose founder, Hakan Camuz, a Turkish citizen & close to the Erdogan family, ran a smear arrest campaign against the Indian army & India’s Home Minister, accusing India of human rights violations in J&K.
Exhibit E:
Turkey’s new-age info-warfare accounts on X & Telegram actively retweeted &translated ISPR clips & Pakistani propaganda, helping it trend globally in an attempt to add a veneer of credibility to their propaganda by almost becoming their spokesperson on SM.
Exhibit F:
One such case is that of a Turkey-based handle “Clash Report,” led by Turkish nationals. Its CEO, Cüneyt Polat, a Turkish citizen has previously worked for TÜBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) acts as an advisory agency to the Turkish Govt.
Clash Report was the most active account peddling pro-Pakistani narratives & propaganda against India. In doing so, the handle propagated Pakistani fake news & used old images to fit Pakistani propaganda on X & Telegram. X handle of Clash Report is now withheld in India.
Bangladesh
A flurry of fake news and disinformation was generated and/or shared by several Bangladeshi accounts, reaching thousands with fake news, some posts even hitting 1K+ retweets targeting India and peddling hate.
Exhibit A:
The handle revolt_71 claimed Pahalgam attack was a “false flag” by India to blame Pakistan & justify Operation Sindoor. Posted Apr 25, 2025, citing “tight security.”
Exhibit B:
The handle continued their anti-India rhetoric post the Pahalgam terror attack, calling India a “deadly demon” to “crush,” tying the Pahalgam attack to #IndiaOut campaign, and ran the campaign rigorously.
Exhibit C:
Another instance of fake news & blatant propaganda comes from Bangladeshi media portals, including Ekattor & Jamuna TV, among others, which spread fake news like Indian forces attacking Bangladeshi civilians during #OperationSindoor, using doctored images from unrelated conflicts.
Exhibit D:
Several Bangladeshi accounts posted warning post claiming if India attacks Pakistan, Bangladesh would claim Indian states including the seven sisters of India.
China
China emerged to be another key proponent of Pak military. Fulfilling its duties as Pak’s “iron brother”, China provided missile systems like HQ-9 & HQ-16, and missiles PL-15 used by Pakistan during the conflict. But China’s support for Pak extended to even cyberspace.
Chinese social media handles shared a myriad of fake news/misleading images/fabricated images & videos to run campaigns against India to isolate the country in the social media ecosystem, as instanced in the following exhibits.
Exhibit A:
A Chinese firm released an undated doctored satellite image suggesting damage at a structure within India’s Adampur Airbase, which was targeted by Pakistan. However,
@detresfa_ debunked this fakery, exposing that the damage depicted was an old imagery.
Exhibit B:
Chinese state media outlet China Daily falsely reported that “at least three Indian jets crashed in Jammu and Kashmir” during recent tensions with Pakistan. @PIBFactCheck confirmed this was FAKE NEWS – the images were from a 2019 incident completely unrelated to current events.
Exhibit C:
Several prominent Chinese media portals posted unverified claims during the cross-border military conflicts between India & Pakistan. This included Pakistan-leaning narratives of the number of Indian jets downed by Pakistan. No evidence provided while reporting. Just misleading claims and divisive lies.
Exhibit D:
Pro-CCP handles made fake and unverified claims regarding Indian aircrafts involved in military conflict against Pakistani.
These are just some of the exhibits of how Pakistan-supporting nations Turkey, China, and Bangladesh, peddled fake news to isolate India. But the actual scale of this propaganda was way more massive and continues to be.
In the next part, we will expose how Turkey has emerged as the key enabler of the pro-Pakistani terrorism & propaganda amid the India vs Pakistan conflict. Stay tuned!
