'Cross-examine your sources...': India exposes Chinese state media spin on Operation Sindoor

India has hit back hard at Chinese state media outlet Global Times for circulating disinformation around Operation Sindoor, the precision cruise missile strikes it launched against terror infrastructure across Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The Indian Embassy in Beijing called out the paper for using old images of IAF crashes to suggest failed Indian strikes—images which have now been debunked by India’s own fact-checking body.

“Dear Global Times, we would recommend you verify your facts and cross-examine your sources before pushing out this kind of disinformation,” the embassy posted on X, tagging examples of misleading visuals shared online. Among them were photos from a MiG-29 crash in Rajasthan (2024) and a MiG-21 crash in Punjab (2021)—now being passed off as casualties from the May 7 strikes.

India had launched 24 SCALP cruise missile strikes across nine terror-linked sites deep within Pakistani territory after the brutal April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 civilians, including a Nepali tourist. The embassy reminded Chinese media of that fact, stating, “This was the deadliest civilian attack since 26/11, where victims were shot at point-blank range after being asked to identify their religion. The brutality was designed to terrorise families.”

A group calling itself The Resistance Front (TRF)—an alias for the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)—claimed responsibility. India had already submitted evidence linking TRF to LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammad in its 2024 reports to the UN 1267 Sanctions Committee.

India also accused Pakistan of delaying or denying TRF’s role in global forums like the UN Security Council, even as Islamabad took no visible action against the terror infrastructure. Meanwhile, Global Times amplified pro-Pakistan propaganda without verification, a move India said reflects “serious lapses in journalistic ethics.”

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh praised the armed forces, saying India’s missile strikes were a rightful response to unprovoked aggression.