Amid India-Pakistan “low-intensity” conflict, Turkey and China provided more than weapons support to Islamabad. Both Beijing and Ankara also joined the information war on Pakistan’s side, spreading and providing a global reach to the Pakistan Army’s disinformation campaign.
The state-owned media outlets in both China and Turkey, such as Global Times, Xinhua News Agency, and TRT World, openly worked as a megaphone for the Pakistan Army, amplifying their narratives while jeopardizing their reputation and credibility.
Of course, being the state-managed mouthpieces for the Chinese Communist Party, the Beijing-based Global Times and the Xinhua News Agency never had much credibility to begin with. Similarly, the Ankara-based TRT World has often engaged in propaganda work for the newly found imperialistic designs of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, all the while, when press freedom has taken a serious hit in Turkey.
Still, the acceptance of the false narratives of the Pakistani Army without any verification is a new low, even by their own not-so-high standards.
Given that Pakistan has no traditional media platform with any reach beyond the country’s borders, the state-run media platforms in Turkey and China are doing an invaluable service for Islamabad by providing a platform to unsubstantiated, often absurd, claims made by the Pakistan Army.
The Age Of Information Warfare
We live in an age driven by information. Modern battles are fought not only on the battlefield with ammunition but also on digital screens for perception management.
A strategic battlefield victory can boost the morale of local troops. However, until this information is disseminated to millions of digital screens, the morale boost will remain a hyper-local phenomenon, without impacting the overall psychosis of a wartime society.
At the same time, through deception, image manipulation, and false narratives, public morale could be boosted even when a country is suffering disheartening battlefield losses.
A media kit created by NATO states: “Information warfare is an operation conducted in order to gain an information advantage over the opponent.
“It consists in controlling one’s own information space, protecting access to one’s own information, while acquiring and using the opponent’s information, destroying their information systems and disrupting the information flow.”
The Russia-Ukraine war has highlighted the criticality of information warfare in the 21st century.
The Ukrainian administration shares on a daily basis the number of Russian troops eliminated and their equipment destroyed. If one believes the information provided by Ukraine, then they are eliminating over 1200 Russian soldiers daily. This will amount to the killing of 36,000 Russian soldiers in a month and the killing of over 432,000 soldiers in a year.
By that logic, Ukraine must have eliminated over 1.3 million Russian soldiers during this war. Clearly, there is a lot of hyperbole in these figures, and these numbers are rejected even by the Western backers of Ukraine, who give a more modest figure of Russian losses.
At the same time, Ukraine has not provided any figures for its own losses. Russia and Ukraine are trying to project strength and battlefield advantage while exaggerating the other side’s losses.
However, by and large, international media outlets are not taking these claims at face value.
Turkey, China, Join Pakistan’s Info War
On the other hand, the Turkish and Chinese state-run media have broadly accepted outlandish claims made by the Pakistani Army at face value, even when there is no corroborating evidence for these claims.
In this sense, Ankara and Beijing are acting as a megaphone for the Pakistan military, providing it with a platform to peddle its lies and false claims to an international audience.
Take, for instance, the Chinese state-owned Global Times. On May 7, Global Times posted that Pakistan had shot down three Indian fighter jets, without any corroborating evidence.
The Indian Embassy in China refuted these claims and urged Global Times to verify sources before disseminating disinformation.
“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 said in a post on X.
(1/n) Dear @globaltimesnews , we would recommend you verify your facts and cross-examine your sources before pushing out this kind of dis-information. https://t.co/xMvN6hmrhe
— India in China (@EOIBeijing) May 7, 2025
“Several pro-Pakistan handles are spreading baseless claims in the context of #OperationSindoor, attempting to mislead the public. When media outlets share such information without verifying sources, it reflects a serious lapse in responsibility and journalistic ethics,” it added.
However, this advice had little impact on Global Times.
Once again, on May 10, the Global Times provided the Pakistan military with a platform to promote its disinformation campaign.
“Pakistan Air Force’s JF-17 Thunder’s hypersonic missiles have destroyed India’s S-400 system in Adampur, Pakistani state-run PTV News reported. The S-400 air defence system is worth approximately $1.5 billion, it added.
“The Xinhua News Agency also reported Pakistan JF-17 Thunder jet destroyed India’s S-400 air defense system in India’s Punjab, citing military,” the Global Times posted on social media platform X.
Additionally, the Global Times failed to report that the Indian Army had already ridiculed the claim in its press briefing.
“The Indian side has not responded to the report so far,” the Global Times said.
However, even when the Indian Army has formally rejected these claims, the Global Times did not update its report.
“Pakistan spread misinformation on social media, falsely claiming it had targeted the S-400 air defence systems at Adampur, Suratgarh, and Sirsa Air Force Stations, BrahMos base and others. India strongly denies these false narratives,” said Indian Army spokesperson Col Sofiya Qureshi.
“As you can see, Pakistani claims about the activities that they have undertaken continue to be heavy on lies, misinformation, and propaganda. On top of that, this is pedalled by the Pakistani State Agencies; the claims that they have made about attacking and destroying various military installations in the country are completely false. The claim about the air force stations in Sirsa, Suratgarh being destroyed they are false,” said Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
India also showed time-stamped images to refute Pakistan’s false claims.
Of course, Chinese media has a vested interest in promoting stories that the Chinese-origin JF-17 shot down S-400, one of the most advanced air defense systems in the world, or the Rafales were shot down by the Chinese-origin J-10C.
Such unsubstantiated claims in state-run Chinese media directly benefit state-run Chinese aerospace companies. After these reports, shares of Avic Chengdu Aircraft Co Ltd, the manufacturer of J-17 and J-10C fighter aircraft, rallied over 36 percent in two sessions in Shenzhen trading.
The same unsubstantiated claims about the shooting down of Rafale jets were also published prominently on the Turkish state-run media outlet TRT World.
Turkey is actively pitching its under-development TF-Kaan, an indigenous fifth-generation fighter jet, in the Middle Eastern market. The UAE, which has already ordered 80 Rafale warplanes for US$17.2 billion, has shown interest in TF Kaan.
Similarly, Saudi Arabia has shown keen interest in joining the TF Kaan development program.
It is not hard to see why state-run Turkish media is eager to pronounce that Pakistan has shot down Indian Rafale fighter jets. Any damage to Rafale’s reputation can directly benefit Turkey in the lucrative aerospace market in the Middle East.
None of this is to claim that India could not lose a Rafale fighter jet in an air duel. Aviation history is replete with examples of far more capable aircraft losing to less capable ones.
However, the evidence available in the public domain at the moment is insufficient to conclusively prove that India lost a Rafale and Pakistan shot it down.
Speaking in the Pakistan parliament, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif claimed that 75-80 Indian aircraft took part in Operation Sindoor.
If this claim is correct, the sheer number of Indian fighter jets airborne during those crucial 25 minutes of operation means a mishap or friendly fire can’t be rejected outright. A shoot-down looks unlikely since most attacks were standoff attacks.
Not only Pakistan, Turkish, and Chinese media, but even Indian media made some sensational claims. An analysis by EurAsian Times explains the possible strategy of the Indian media. You can read it here.
- Sumit Ahlawat has over a decade of experience in news media. He has worked with Press Trust of India, Times Now, Zee News, Economic Times, and Microsoft News. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Media and Modern History from the University of Sheffield, UK.
- VIEWS PERSONAL OF THE AUTHOR.
- He can be reached at ahlawat.sumit85 (at) gmail.com
