Propaganda, Outright Lies: How Pak Is Ramping Up Misinformation Warfare

Keeping up its misinformation warfare alongside three waves of drone and missile attacks on military and civilian targets in India, the Pakistani establishment and people backed by it have continued to spread lies, including that Indian armed forces fired missiles on Amritsar, officials have said. 

The officials listed out a series of misinformation, half-truths and outright lies propagated by Pakistan to sow discord in India, paint itself in a flattering light and try and gain the world's sympathy. They also pointed out that measures are being taken to counter such misinformation, including with timely fact-checks and visual evidence.

"Pakistan is running a widespread campaign full of lies targeting India, using both official channels and social media to incite communal unrest, spread false reports about military events, cause panic among Indian citizens and create international confusion regarding India's actions," an official said. 

Among the biggest lies being peddled by Pakistan, the officials said, is the claim by Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the Director General of Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), that India fired missiles on Amritsar. Another false claim, in the same vein, was that India had attacked the Nankana Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan.

Blasting Pakistan for the outrageous allegation, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Friday that it continued to make efforts to mislead the world. 

"Pakistan made the preposterous and outrageous claim that it was the Indian Armed Forces and the Indian Air Force that was targeting cities like Amritsar and trying to put the blame on Pakistan. This is nothing but a desperate attempt by Pakistan to disown its acts of aggression. But it is also true to type in its effort to deceive and mislead the world. It will not succeed," he said. 

Mr Misri slammed Pakistan again on Saturday, calling it out on its "lame attempt". 

"Pakistani officials also continue to make ludicrous claims about India firing missiles towards Shri Amritsar Sahib. As I said, these lame attempts to divide India are doomed to failure," he said.

Inflating Military Might

Accounts in Pakistan have been spreading propaganda about the destruction of Indian bases in Gujarat, Uri, Nagrota and Rajouri and, similarly, a news channel, PTV, said the Akhnoor and Bathinda airfields had been destroyed. All of these claims have been debunked.

Since India began Operation Sindoor on Wednesday, in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, several claims of Indian jets being downed have been made with photos of earlier crashes.

The officials said that, to spread panic among people in India, rumours were also spread about explosions at Jaipur and Srinagar airports and infrastructure of railways and electricity providers being destroyed.

Another big, and false claim, was that India had fired missiles at Afganistan and Iran. This, too, has been called out by Mr Misri.

"There is this completely ludicrous claim that Indian missiles have hit Afghanistan. Totally frivolous allegation. And I only want to point out that Afghan people don't need to be reminded about which country it is, that has, on multiple occasions in just the last one and a half years, targeted civilian populations and civilian infrastructure in Afghanistan," the foreign secretary said.

India's Response

"India has responded to this information assault with a firm, evidence-based strategy rooted in transparency and accountability," an official said.

One of the ways it is doing this is by timely and accurate fact-checking with visual evidence. A dedicated team has been deployed, which is tracing the origins of misleading videos and confirming the real dates and context of recycled images.

The Press Information Bureau's fact-checks have been shared through various channels, including X, to nip Pakistan's propaganda in the bud.

In a video shared by several pro-Pakistan handles, it is being falsely claimed that the Pakistan Airforce has targeted Srinagar airbase#PIBFactCheck

❌ The video shared is old and NOT from India.

✅The video is from sectarian clashes that took place in the year 2024, in… pic.twitter.com/vPmMq4IWdE

— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) May 7, 2025

Press briefings by the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Defence, they said, have also shared verifiable evidence and kept people briefed about what is actually going on.

"India's counter campaign has gone beyond refutation, it is also revealing the systemic flaws in Pakistan's military infrastructure that the disinformation is designed to obscure. The campaign highlights how Pakistan's military, often postured as a formidable force, functioned more like a corporate buyer of foreign weapons than a coherent warfighting machine," the official said.