Pakistan deputy PM Ishaq Dar cites fake news to laud PAF, gets fact-checked at home

Pakistan's deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ishaq Dar faced embarrassment when his own country's newspaper fact-checked and debunked his false claim about the Pakistan Air Force in the Senate.During his Senate address, Dar quoted what he claimed was a report from the UK-based The Daily Telegraph, stating "Pakistan Air Force is the undisputed king of the skies." The statement, which went viral on social media, was quickly proven to be based on fake news.Pakistan's newspaper, The Dawn, through its iVerify Pakistan team, investigated the claim and found it to be false. The team discovered discrepancies in the viral image that had been circulating on social media since May 10, allegedly showing The Daily Telegraph's front page. The Dawn confirmed that no such article was ever published by the British newspaper.BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya criticised Dar's statement, calling it a "blatant attempt to save face" and highlighting how Pakistan's propaganda was "quickly falling apart, exposing a web of lies and desperation.""Pakistan’s propaganda is quickly falling apart, exposing a web of lies and desperation. In a blatant attempt to save face, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar misled the country’s Senate by claiming that The Telegraph had declared the Pakistan Air Force as the “Undisputed King of the Skies.” The claim was so outrageous that even Dawn, Pakistan’s own leading newspaper, felt compelled to fact-check and debunk it," Malviya said in a post on X.This comes in the backdrop of heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack that claimed lives of 26. India had responded with Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting nine terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, eliminating over 100 terrorists from groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen.Pakistan's subsequent retaliation included crossborder shelling and attempted drone attacks, prompting India to launch coordinated strikes on Pakistani radar infrastructure, communication centers, and airfields. Both nations have now reached a ceasefire understanding.