Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on Thursday rubbished Indian claims of “neutralizing” a “terrorist” allegedly linked to the Pakistan Army, producing him before the press to highlight the neighboring country’s disinformation campaign.
Earlier this week, Indian media had claimed an individual wanted in connection with the 2025 Pahalgam terrorist attack last year was killed in an “encounter” in Indian Illegally Occupied Kashmir. They had shared the CNIC of a Pakistani as “evidence” of their allegations.
In his press conference, the military spokesman detailed a timeline of the Indian claims. “On the night of Sept. 29, the Indian corps deployed in IIOK made a tweet claiming that, based on joint intelligence reports, the Indian Army, police and CRPF launched an operation in general area of Korag, Yousmarg,” he read from a social media post by Chinar Corps.
A day later, he said, Chinar Corps posted again, alleging Indian forces had found the body of a “Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist.” Subsequently, India’s ANI news outlet alleged the deceased individual was Mohammad Asif, a member of the Special Services Group (SSG). The DG ISPR said India’s home affairs ministry and Press Information Bureau repeated this claim.
According to Lt. Gen. Chaudhry, India then alleged Asif was involved in the “Halan attack, Aug. 23, DKG attack Dec. 23, Kandi attack May 2023, Shah Sitar attack May 2024, Shiv Khori attack June 2024, Gagangeer attack Oct. 2024, Boota Pahari attack Oct. 2024, and Basira attack April 2025.” He noted that the Indian government claimed to have neutralized three other “members of the group.”
He hoped that after this press conference, the “shameful” posts would be deleted. He noted that after the Indian government’s claims, its media had jumped into the fray. “So there comes News18, Statesman, India Today, Hindustan Times, ABP Live, Indian Express,” he said, displaying their reports.
At that point, the DG ISPR called Asif to join him for the presser, who said he was a resident of Attock district. “So here is that superman. You can see this superman. Please, come, my brother. Tell us about these achievements of yours, what all you have been doing,” said Lt. Gen. Chaudhry.
“Yesterday, some friends called me and told me there were reports on social media that I had been martyred by the Indian army in Kashmir,” explained Asif. “To their concerns, I responded that I was here, alive and healthy,” he added.
According to Asif, he also received calls from Indian numbers, asking him for his personal information, identity, whereabouts and his connection with the claims. “Through ANI on social media, I became aware of the reports that Indian media, using my personal data, had named me as a martyr in an operation in Kashmir,” he said, noting this was a “surprise” for him.
The retired soldier said he had then informed his unit about the reports, adding he was instructed to block all numbers calling from India and wait for ISPR to contact him. He said he had joined the Pakistan Army in 2000, the SSG in 2005 and retired in 2023. He said he had been working with a private security company since his retirement. “For the past three or four months, I have been living with my family in our home in Rawalpindi,” he said. “I condemn this [Indian narrative]. By the grace of God, I am alive and present before you,” he said.
Drama
The DG ISPR emphasized there were “six reasons” behind “such dramas” of India against Pakistan.
“It is a very shameful and embarrassing thing. No self-respecting nation does this,” he said, adding the first reason was that India attempted to “cover its own track of terrorism” through theatrics. “India is the biggest sponsor of terrorism and a terrorist state in the world,” he said. “And its implication, involvement, direct and indirect terrorism in the region goes back decades,” he added.
“Whether it’s Mukti Bahini or LTT, and now the TTP, BLA, and their funding, sponsorship and planning. It (India) has now become a victim of its own trait,” he said, noting this terrorism was also “now taking on an internal dimension.” He noted that beyond “terrorizing” regional states, India was also targeting Muslim Indians, as well as Kashmiris, Sikhs, Dalits, Christians, Manipur, and tribals.
“Some country which lives and breathes terrorism is at the same time very afraid that their dark face will be exposed, so they have to cover their tracks. What better way to cover their tracks than to start calling everyone else a terrorist?” he questioned, and played a video clip of Indian “lies that they have been feeding to their own people as well as to the world at large.”
Accusing India of jailing Muslim Kashmiris, he said Delhi often staged encounters with them and sought to portray false flag operations as terrorist acts. “This time they went ahead; they said this is not very spicy, let’s take an Army soldier of Pakistan and portray him as one that we have killed,” he said, noting India is also involved in transnational killings.
“Everyone whom they don’t like, they start calling terrorists, because they see their image,” he said, as he played a recent video clip of an Afghan Taliban minister claiming “our DNA is one” when referring to India. “That is the illegitimate child of this terrorism, which is on our western border,” he said, referring to Afghanistan. “Because what better opportunity than to give this dirty work to someone who is ready to do it for certain coins and dollars and money,” he added.
Kashmir
According to Lt. Gen. Chaudhry, the second reason for such theatrics was developments in India-held Jammu and Kashmir. “What’s happening in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir plays a big role in the psyche and in the cognitive domain of these Indians,” he said. “For every 10th Kashmiri, there is an Indian soldier or a security person. There are nearly 1 million military, security, and intelligence CRPF and law enforcement there,” he said.
“And you cannot subside them; you cannot take out their desire to be counted. It’s a simple desire,” he said, emphasizing Kashmiris wanted the right of self-determination as promised in a United Nations Security Council resolution. He said Delhi staged such incidents to portray to the world that Kashmiris had no problems. “You [India] have an internal problem, a great internal problem of oppression, of torture. You don’t want to address it; you want to externalize it. You cannot externalize your internal issues. You cannot put this blame on Muhammad Asif,” he added.
The third reason detailed by the DG ISPR was India’s “obsession with Pakistan.” He said it was a habit of Delhi to blame everything on Islamabad. “Their politico-military leadership imagination and faculties have somehow been constrained and restricted,” he said, adding this was why Pakistan kept asking them “very politely” to “grow up. He noted that Pakistan had also asked India first year to provide evidence of its claims of a Pakistani role in the Pahalgam attack.
“If you are not ready to give proof to us, you can give it to any third party,” he said.
Influence of Bollywood
Lt. Gen. Chaudhry said the fourth reason was New Delhi being “very much influenced” by Bollywood. “It is the story that is important; the facts are not important to Indians,” he claimed, adding that for India, the “story should be clear, the story should be spicy.”
He continued: “There should be action in it; it should be entertaining … make the encounter look real, throw in a Pakistani … just an ordinary Pakistani won’t be fun, let’s put in a havaldar, let’s put in an SSG guard, then it will be thrilling.”
The fifth reason, per the DG ISPR, was a “delusional ‘Shining India’ complex.” He said they thought they were “great,” recalling Field Marshal Asim Munir had once said “they are great without greatness.”
Asserting that this “shine” was rather “shame,” he said India presumed it could “control the mind” of others in the world like it controls its media.
The sixth and final reason, according to the military spokesman, was the “politicization” of the Indian military. “We cannot comprehend that we would be able to come out with such a story and such claims which don’t exist,“ he said, noting the Indian brigade, corps commander and army commander allowed this and took responsibility for it.
“Your [Indian Army] agenda is Hindutva-driven. Your agenda is pleasing your political masters,” he said. “Unfortunately, we have to deal with such a wretched and low-life kind of enemy. It is unfortunate that we have such a neighbor who is an encounter specialist,” he said, emphasizing this was the reality Pakistan, the wider region, and the rest of the world was facing.
Harsh warning
To a question on whether India could use the latest allegations to provoke another armed conflict, Lt. Gen. Chaudhry said Pakistan’s armed forces were always ready for any such move and warned of a “very harsh” retribution. “As a consequence of this false flag, which has been exposed very early in its infancy, if they want to do anything, most welcome,” he said. “We have clarified it before also, that this time we will not leave them so easily. This time the cost that Pakistan would inflict on their strategic folly will be very, very severe,” he added.
To another question, he rebutted the assertion that the international community had ignored India’s transnational killings. “I think the Indian facade is very well exposed to the whole world,” he said, noting a U.S. secretary of state, former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, and Australian leaders were among those who had raised their concerns about such killings.
Emphasizing that India’s deceit made it “unreliable,” he said the only guarantee of peace was “our own strength.” He also reiterated Pakistan’s right to self-defense against terror attacks emanating from Afghanistan, and declared the counterterror fight “cannot be sacrificed at the altar of anyone’s politics.”
During the question-and-answer session, the Army spokesman reiterated that Pakistan remained fully committed to implementing the defense agreement with Saudi Arabia. “Our commitment to the security of the Haramain Sharifain is absolute,” he said, adding Pakistan was prepared to defend the holy sites and ensure the security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
He also demurred on commenting on any political matters, refusing to offer any remarks on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s proposed long march or incarcerated party founder Imran Khan. “Politics is for political parties. Politicians and political parties form governments,” he said.