India pans Global Times for misreporting Op Sindoor, gives Chinese media a factcheck

Along with Pakistani interests, which went into an overdrive misreporting Operation Sindoor on Wednesday (May 7), Chinese state media Global Times also ran misleading news on India’s targeted cruise missile strikes at terror infrastructure deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK), drawing flak from India.

Global Times reports used old images of crashed aircraft to depict Operation Sindoor. “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 wrote on X.

Nine terror hubs struck

“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 added.

India launched 24 precision missile strikes in nine locations—Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Bahawalpur, Rawalakot, Chakswari, Bhimber, Neelum Valley, Jhelum, and Chakwal—that were identified as hubs of terrorist activity in Pakistan and PoK early on Wednesday.

Also read: Operation Sindoor: 'New phase in India’s response to cross-border terrorism'

India gives Global Times a factcheck

The government’s PIB Face Check team unearthed several cases of fake news with old images showing crashed aircraft in the context of Operation Sindoor.

While one picture is of a crashed Indian Air Force (IAF) MiG-29 fighter jet in Rajasthan from September 2024, another is of an IAF MiG-21 fighter jet from Punjab in 2021.

“Allow us to bring to your knowledge facts of the issue,” the Indian embassy said addressing Global Times. “On April 22, 2025, Pakistani and Pakistan-trained terrorists belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out a savage terror attack on Indian tourists at Pahalgam in Jammu & Kashmir in India. They targeted a particular community by asking people to identify themselves by their religion and murdered 26 people, including one national of Nepal, causing the largest number of civilian casualties in a terrorist attack in India since the November 26, 2008 attacks in Mumbai.”

Also read: Operation Sindoor | Tarun Upadhyay interview: What's the situation at LoC?

India shared inputs about TRF with UN

The embassy went on to point out that The Resistance Front (TRF)—a front for the UN-proscribed Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba—claimed responsibility for the attack. India shared inputs about the TRF in the half-yearly report to the Monitoring Team of the UN’s 1267 Sanctions Committee in May and November 2024 and even before that, in December 2023.

“... Despite a fortnight having passed since the attacks, there has been no demonstrable step from Pakistan to take action against the terrorist infrastructure on its territory or on territory under its control. Instead, all it has indulged in are denials and allegations. Our intelligence monitoring of Pakistan-based terrorist modules indicated that further attacks against India were impending,” the embassy said.