New Delhi: India on Wednesday slammed Chinese media outlet Global Times over its coverage of Operation Sindoor military strikes and asked the portal to “verify facts” and “cross-examine sources before pushing out disinformation.”
Global Times had reported that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has “shot down another Indian fighter jet in response to overnight airstrikes carried out by India at multiple locations in Pakistan”, citing “sources from the Pakistani military”. The report carried old images of crashed aircraft.
“Dear Global Times, we would recommend you verify your facts and cross-examine your sources before pushing out this kind of disinformation,” the Indian embassy in China said in a post on X.
“Several pro-Pakistan handles are spreading baseless claims in the context of Operation Sindoor, attempting to mislead the public. When media outlets share such information without verifying sources, it reflects a serious lapse in responsibility and journalistic ethics,” the embassy said.
In subsequent posts, the Indian embassy said: “@PIBFactCheck had brought to light instances of fake news with old images showing crashed aircrafts being re-circulated in various forms in the current context of #OperationSindoor. While one is from an earlier incident involving an Indian Air Force (IAF) MiG-29 fighter jet that crashed in Rajasthan in September 2024, the other is an IAF MiG-21 fighter jet from Punjab in 2021.”