The four-day India-Pakistan conflict of May 2025 was dominated by an intense information warfare riddled with claims and counterclaims. Although the initial reporting amplified Pakistan’s blitz of claims, there is a visible shift in the narrative, with reports and analyses drawing attention to Islamabad’s losses.
Seizing on the early success in setting the narrative, Pakistan is vigorously marketing the JF-17 as “battle-tested” and “combat-proven,” attributing significant victories to it.
The Libyan National Army (LNA) has already placed an order for the JF-17 fighter jet, whereas Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia are reportedly considering a purchase.
Adding to this, an exclusive Reuters report states that Islamabad is courting Indonesia for a potential deal consisting of about 40 JF-17 jets and Shahpar drones. The deal was discussed in a meeting between Indonesian Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin and Pakistan’s Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, the report stated.
The report comes months after Indonesia announced it was mulling a purchase of the Chinese J-10C fighter jets, also driven by Pakistan’s claims that the aircraft was used to down about five Rafale fighters.
Despite Pakistan’s aggressive push to monetize its “battle-tested” jets amid a flailing economy, the global narrative appears to be somewhat shifting.
The Reuters report, for instance, stated: “Some experts argue that the revenue from production may not be sufficient to rescue the nation from its overwhelming debt, while other critics pointed to the heavy toll of the May 2025 military conflict with India, where Pakistan lost between six and nine fighter jets.
🚨🚨 So @ReutersAsia decides to remove the part that says Pakistan lost 6-9 fighter jets.
⏭️⏭️HOWEVER, the Reuters news is still alive in many of its subscribers.
⏭️Here's one link: https://t.co/XSBzMhwwEp
Indian journos must take a note: @ShivAroor @AdityaRajKaul. pic.twitter.com/RaPOTcoIni
— EurAsian Times (@THEEURASIATIMES) January 13, 2026
Interestingly, the above-cited part was deleted from the report shortly after the EurAsian Times highlighted it on X. However, the full news is still available online, published by many Reuters subscribers.
Global Amplification Of Pakistan Claims
The brief Indo-Pakistan conflict of May 2025 will be remembered for the “Info War” that gave Islamabad an initial edge over India.
Some of these claims came from the higher echelons of the Pakistani military, and quickly became headlines across all major media outlets—Reuters, BBC, The Guardian, CNN, The New York Times, Al Jazeera, etc. Meanwhile, China exploited the opportunity to start a coordinated campaign highlighting the superior combat performance of its weapon systems while emphasizing alleged Indian losses.
On May 8, Pakistan claimed to have downed five Indian Air Force Rafales, marking the first combat loss of the venerated French fighter.
US media outlet CNN quoted Pakistani defence sources as claiming that they have shot down five Indian fighter jets, including three Rafale jets, one MiG-29, and one Su-30MKI fighter jet. It also quoted an “unidentified” high-ranking French intelligence official saying that one Rafale fighter jet operated by the Indian Air Force was downed by Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Reuters quoted two “unidentified” US officials saying that a top Chinese-made Pakistani fighter plane shot down at least two Indian military aircraft.
Similarly, The New York Times quoted its own “unidentified” Indian officials, claiming that India had lost at least two aircraft, without naming the jets, due to insufficient evidence.
On the other hand, the Washington Post said geolocation and visual analysis confirmed debris consistent with at least two French-made jets (including a Rafale) crashing in Indian territory. The Washington Post also quoted unidentified sources to back its claims.
These reports appeared almost instantaneously and were soon published worldwide, inflicting a severe blow to Rafale jets and the Indian Air Force’s reputation.
Indian experts hit back, alleging that the Western media was complicit in pushing Pakistani propaganda. They questioned why the global press did not wait for evidence, such as cockpit recordings or wreckage.
Notably, the US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that seven fighter jets were downed, adding that he ended the Indo-Pakistan war by leveraging trade ties with both New Delhi and Islamabad.
These claims were categorically rejected by India but endorsed by Pakistan.
Shift in Narrative?
OSINT analysts, drawing from wreckage photos, satellite imagery, and leaked reports, have been vocal in debunking Pakistani propaganda of “victory.”
Austrian Aerial Warfare Analyst Tom Cooper, widely known in OSINT circles, stated that at least 19 Pakistani aircraft may have been affected by the fighting. He called it a “clear-cut victory” for India, blaming Pakistan’s defeats on an over-reliance on Chinese systems and inadequate integration of air defence.
Meanwhile, another renowned OSINT expert, Damien Symon, questioned Pakistan’s assertions that there was no damage to the airbases by publishing satellite imagery showing significant destruction, including large craters and wrecked hangars. This helped analysts deduce that 4-6 fighters, including F-16s and JF-17s, were likely impacted.
Two months after the ceasefire ended the conflict, the French Air Force Chief General Jerome Bellanger stated that he had seen evidence that supports the claims about the loss of three Indian aircraft: a Mirage 2000, a Russian-made Sukhoi, and a Rafale.
Separately, a French report that apparently quoted Dassault Aviation Chairman and CEO Éric Trappier, stated that India had lost one of its Rafale fighter jets. However, the incident was attributed to a high-altitude technical failure rather than an enemy shootdown.
Both assertions debunk claims of a “loss of five Rafales,” but acknowledged some losses on the Indian side.
Just a few days after these admissions by French officials, French military and intelligence officials alleged in mid-July 2025 that China’s defence attaches at China’s foreign embassies led a campaign to discredit the Rafale jets and undermine their sales.
According to French officials, the Chinese campaign included viral social media posts, manipulated imagery showing supposed Rafale debris, AI-generated content, and video-game depictions to simulate supposed combat. Furthermore, more than 1,000 social media accounts were created to push the narrative of Chinese technological superiority.
Clearing the air, a commentary by Dr Walter Ladwig, an Associate Fellow in International Security at the UK-based RUSI think tank, suggested that Pakistan and its backers had exploited the information vacuum to push their claims.
“In any military campaign, shaping the strategic narrative is nearly as important as shaping the battle space. Unfortunately, India ceded that narrative space. The initial silence from Indian military spokespeople created an information vacuum. Into that vacuum poured commentary that was often technically uninformed and strategically misleading,” he argued.
Calling it a distorted framing of the conflict, Dr Ladwig said, “Rather than a serious analysis of India’s targeting methodology, command intent, or escalation thresholds, coverage focused instead on the air-to-air engagement that led to the loss of Indian aircraft. Undue prominence was given to the performance of specific platforms, with little regard for the broader operational context or the rules of engagement that shaped the encounter.”
In October 2025, the IAF chief said India had managed to destroy 9-10 Pakistani fighter jets, including US-supplied F-16s and Chinese JF-17s, during “Operation Sindoor.” These kills were scored in addition to those of the C-130 and a couple of large aircraft, such as AEW&C, which were likely obliterated by the IAF.
The same day, Reuters, citing the IAF chief, reported India downed five Pakistani fighter jets of the F-16 and JF-17 class during the intense fighting.
Subsequently, these claims were reported by global media, signalling a shift in tone and tenor, and perhaps the global narrative that had inordinately favoured Pakistan
Many Western experts later shifted focus to India’s overall military dominance, noting that early losses were limited by calibrated restraint and that India inflicted greater damage later.
For instance, the US-based think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace stated, “Key capabilities that stood out during the conflict went through a long development curve, like the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos and its integration with Su-30 fighter jets.” It also emphasized the jointness achieved by Indian armed forces—debunking the claims about weakness and vulnerability as peddled by Pakistan and other Western media outlets.
Another think tank, Stimson Centre, took a more balanced approach, stating that there were several early Indian aircraft losses but Pakistan inflicted “virtually no observable damage” in the following days, with India making plausible claims of downing Pakistani jets.
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