The incident involving the Pakistani military’s dissemination of a doctored video during an official press conference marks a troubling escalation in the ongoing information war between India and Pakistan. On Sunday night, May 11, Major General Ahmed Shareef Chaudhry, the Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), held a high-profile media briefing to discuss Pakistan’s military action under what it termed Operation Bunyan Marsoos. In an unexpected and controversial move, he showcased a manipulated video clip of Wing Commander Vyomika Singh of the Indian Air Force, who, along with Colonel Sofiya Qureshi of the Indian Army, has become one of the prominent figures associated with India's counter-operations under Operation Sindoor.
This press conference crossed a line that even adversarial states typically respect during times of military conflict. It is not common to see a senior uniformed officer use doctored footage in an official capacity to advance a false narrative on an international platform. The video in question, presented as “proof” that Pakistan was only targeting Indian military sites and not civilian areas, was clearly manipulated. A closer analysis revealed multiple abrupt jump cuts, a tell-tale sign of video splicing. These cuts disrupted the natural flow of Wing Commander Singh’s speech, clearly suggesting that sentences had been rearranged, parts removed, and new meaning forcibly constructed.
Among the most glaring examples of tampering:
The manipulation didn’t end there. The edited video also removed Singh’s categorical denial of Pakistani claims regarding the destruction of Indian airbases in Punjab and Rajasthan. The original press briefing by Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, which took place on May 10, directly addressed and refuted these Pakistani assertions. By cutting this context, ISPR tried to bolster a false perception of military success on their part.
Additionally, Pakistan’s doctored video deliberately omitted any reference to the Indian Air Force’s retaliatory strikes and broader strategic messaging. These edits created a one-sided, misleading portrayal that fits within a broader trend of online disinformation campaigns often conducted through proxy social media accounts and coordinated digital propaganda networks.
The contrast between the Indian and Pakistani press briefings—available for public viewing—exposes the depth of this fabrication. While India presented its side transparently with full-length, unedited footage, Pakistan attempted to rewrite the narrative through media manipulation at the highest military level. This shift from online misinformation to state-sanctioned, televised disinformation is a serious development, reflecting the extent to which hybrid warfare, including psychological and informational components, is becoming part of conventional conflict strategy.
