 "From attacks on dam to mosques: The Pakistani claims debunked by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri")
India has debunked several of Pakistan’s claims regarding Operation Sindoor. On the intervening night of May 6-7, India carried out air strikes on nine terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), killing at least 100 terrorists.
Tensions have increased between the two countries since India carried out strikes in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. On Thursday (May 8), the Indian armed forces neutralised an air defence system in Lahore after Pakistan “attempted to engage a number of military targets in Northern and Western India”, as per a government statement.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh addressed the media on the latest developments today. Misri used the opportunity to debunk disinformation around Operation Sindoor.
‘Original escalation by Pakistan’
Vikram Misri said that there has been a flood of misinformation since Operation Sindoor. He said India is not seeking to escalate the situation, pointing out that the Pahalgam terror attack is the “original escalation”.
The foreign secretary said the Indian strikes were a response to that escalation. “We are not escalating matters, we are responding to the original escalation,” he said.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, had said after Operation Sindoor, “Pakistan has every right to respond forcefully to this act of war imposed by India, and a forceful response is being given.”
Misri further exposed Pakistan, saying that it opposed the mention of The Resistance Front (TRF), which claimed responsibility for the deadly Pahalgam terror attack, in the press release of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on the massacre.
The TRF is a proxy of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist group.
No civilians were killed
Pakistan’s Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif, earlier claimed that “civilians were killed, including women and children” in the Indian attack on Pakistan and PoK.
Misri reiterated that India targeted only terror camps and no military or civilian facilities were struck. He said India responded to the original escalation and the strikes were “precise, controlled and measured”.
The foreign secretary also brought attention to the reportage on the funerals of terrorists, who he said were draped in Pakistani flags and were accorded state honours. “As far as we are concerned, the individuals eliminated at these facilities were terrorists,” he said, adding that “giving terrorist state funerals may be a practice in Pakistan, doesn’t seem to make much sense to us”.
🔴 #BREAKING Hafiz Abdul Rauf, a US-designated global terrorist and a Lashkar e Taiba commander, leads funeral prayers for those killed in India’s strikes pic.twitter.com/YG6W9vuSWp
— Taha Siddiqui (@TahaSSiddiqui) May 7, 2025
On religious sites
Misri also rejected Pakistan’s claims that India “deliberately” struck religious sites during Operation Sindoor.
“These claims are completely false again. Pakistan is misusing religious sites to radicalise and indoctrinate terrorists,” said the foreign secretary.
He also underlined Pakistan’s “targeted attacks on Sikhs, a gurdwara in Poonch, in which three people were killed.”
Pakistan's reputation as the epicentre of global terrorism is rooted in a number of instances where concrete evidence is available not just to India but to governments, authorities, and agencies around the world. There are several terrorist attacks around the world where… pic.twitter.com/q3BzpJVztm
— PIB India (@PIB_India) May 8, 2025
Pakistan’s calls for ‘neutral probe’
Misri also spoke about Pakistan’s demand for a “neutral” investigation into the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam. He brought focus to Islamabad’s track record on such probes during previous terror attacks on Indian soil.
India provided extensive information and evidence related to the involvement of Pakistani terrorists in the case of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, he said, adding that cases were filed, but there was no progress.
“Pakistan has consistently stonewalled all efforts to move the investigation,” he added.
After the 2016 Pathankot Air Base attack, India gave unprecedented access to the Pakistani team to the site of the attack.
DNA data and details of the addresses of terrorists were shared, along with presenting evidence against office bearers of Jaish-e-Mohammad and the handlers of the terrorists, but there has been no movement, he said.
In all of this, experience has not been positive, Misri added. He called Pakistan’s call for a joint investigation a “delaying tactic”.
Misri also said he was not surprised at Pakistani ministers, including PM Sharif, spreading disinformation about downing multiple Indian jets, including the Rafale.
Pakistan’s “lies began with the birth of the nation” as it lied even to the United Nations when it claimed that it was not part of the attack on Jammu and Kashmir after the Partition.
No damage to Neelam-Jhelum dam
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri also dismissed Pakistan’s claim of Indian strikes targeting the Neelum-Jhelum dam in PoK as a “blatant lie”.
He emphasised that India struck only “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and PoK.
“If this kind of a claim is a pretext for targeting Indian infrastructure of a similar nature, then Pakistan will be solely responsible for the consequences that will undoubtedly follow,” Misri warned.
The claim has also been denied by PIB Fact Check on X, calling it “baseless”.
Social Media post falsely claims India targeted the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project in #Pakistan. #PIBFactCheck
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) May 8, 2025
✅ This claim is baseless.
✅ Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has clearly stated in a press conference that India has only targeted terrorist infrastructure.… pic.twitter.com/6GMVoLMIS4
The Pakistan government’s security committee on Wednesday alleged India had “deliberately targeted” the Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project, terming it a “violation of international conventions”.
With inputs from agencies
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