Islamabad: Pakistan tonight confirmed that there is “no Indian pilot” in their custody, and dismissed all media reports about it as “social media chatter”.
DG ISPR Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, addressing a late-night press conference, clarified that Pakistan has no Indian pilot in their custody.
“This is all part of fake news and propaganda that has been generated from multiple sources,” he said.
In a show of bravado, the DG ISPR also said that he wants to “put it on record” that Pakistan “never requested for a ceasefire”.
However, the fact remains that the call on the hotline first came from Pakistan on Saturday afternoon, with the Pakistani DGMO requesting to speak with his Indian counterpart. Following this, the two sides agreed to an immediate stoppage of firing and hostilities.
Earlier, Pakistan-based social media handles had been spreading fake news that an Indian fighter jet was shot down and its pilot was captured in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK). The Indian government had warned that it was fake news. The photo being used to support the fake claim showed a Sukhoi jet that had crashed in Maharashtra in 2014, the Indian government said.
