Islamabad: Hours after India conducted military strikes on terror hotbeds in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said Islamabad was ready to “wrap” the tensions between the two countries if “India backs down”.
Emphasizing that his country won't hesitate to respond if India attacks, the Pakistani minister told Bloomberg Television, “We have been saying all along in the last fortnight that we’ll never initiate anything hostile towards India. But if we're attacked, we'll respond.”
“If India backs down, we will definitely wrap up this tension,” he said. According to The New York Times, Asif said he would welcome further US efforts to help defuse his country’s crisis with India and praised President Trump for calling for a quick end to the conflict.
CNN anchor schools Khawaja Asif
Pakistan's Defense Minister, Khawaja Asif, failed to provide any conclusive evidence of his country’s claims of shooting down five Indian fighter jets during an interview with CNN. Instead, when asked about Pakistan’s claim of downing five Indian jets during Operation Sindoor, Asif attributed it to social media. His bizarre response failed to pass muster with the CNN host and subsequently made him the subject of brutal trolling on social media.
“Pakistan claims it shot down five Indian Air Force jets. India says there is no evidence of that, no proof. Can you provide more details? Let’s start with this very specific claim of five fighter jets shot down. Where’s the evidence for that, sir?” the CNN interviewer, Becky Anderson, asked Asif.
In response, the defense minister cited social media posts as proof. “It’s all over social media. On Indian social media, not on our social media,” he replied. “The debris of these jets fell… and it’s all over Indian media.”
The CNN host cut him off at this point to say that he had not been asked to the show to talk about social media content. “You’re the defense minister, sir. The reason to talk to you today, sir, is not to talk about content all over social media. I’m sorry,” she interrupted.
"Verify facts": India slams Chinese state mediaIndia has strongly criticized Chinese state media Global Times for spreading disinformation to mislead the public on India's cruise missile strikes at terror infrastructure deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK). Global Times had run reports using old images of crashed aircraft in the context of Operation Sindoor, as part of which India launched 24 precision missile strikes in nine locations that were identified as hubs of terrorist activity. "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. |
