Pakistan's Lies, Damned Lies & Their PM Shehbaz Sharif In The Pool
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The Pakistani Army and Pakistani government continues to adopt the Ostrich approach to escape embarrassment in front of its public
It is a confession, finally. Pakistan has admitted that it was struck by missiles from India. As bizarre as it gets, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif says he went on to enjoy a swim after being informed of their elite Nur Khan Base in its military garrison Rawalpindi, along with other bases, coming under attack by missiles.
Besides the sheer casualness, Sharif also seems to be taking entire Pakistan for a ride. Lies, damned lies and tales of false bravado – this is being dished out to the Pakistani public to keep them happy. A fake win is being portrayed.
There is no shred of evidence with Pakistan to back its claims that it had hit Indian bases of Udhampur, Adampur and Pathankot. No satellite images. No physical evidence.
Pakistan is a master at lies and fakery. What Shehbaz Sharif is now doing is twisting the facts to suit his own narrative – classic Pakistani tactics.
Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif was swimming when India launched missiles on Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/5oUlmebgyI — Akash Sharma (@kaidensharmaa) May 16, 2025
LIE NUMBER 1: Pakistan earlier said none of its bases were hit by India on the morning of May 10. First, it was the satellite images which falsified Pakistan's claims. Now, Sharif has himself admitted that he was informed at 2:30 am on May 10 by Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir that the Nur Khan base and other bases were attacked by Indian missiles. Then, why did Pakistan keep denying these Indian strikes so far? I will get to that in just a bit.
First, which Prime Minister would go for a swim soon after learning that his country's most important air bases were under missile attacks? In his own words, Sharif said thankfully he had taken his secure phone along when he went for his swim, on which Munir informed him around 5 am or 6 am that Pakistan had given a strong response to the Indian military strikes.
LIE NUMBER 2: There has been no evidence of these strikes done by Pakistan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the Adampur air base last week deflated Pakistan's claims that the air base had been badly damaged by Pakistani missile attacks and that the S-400 defence system stationed there had been taken out. Modi addressed air force warriors near the Adampur air strip with the S-400 and MIG-29 aircraft right behind him. A fake image of damage at the Udhampur airbase dished out by Pakistan has been negated by various experts. Pakistan has also claimed it downed five Indian fighter planes. Again, no evidence is on offer. India has categorically said it did not lose any military assets during Operation Sindoor.
LIE NUMBER 3: Sharif is painting a completely fabricated sequence of events. He claims that Munir told him around 5 am on May 10 that India was asking for a ceasefire. Sharif said he then asked Munir to go ahead with the same. The actual turn of events is quite the opposite. It was around noon that day that the Pakistan DGMO tried reaching out to India for a ceasefire. The call finally happened at 3:35 pm that day – conclusively proving that Pakistan wanted the ceasefire, after its air bases had been severely compromised.
The sequence of calls from the US back this sequence of events. On May 9 evening, when US Vice-President JD Vance had called PM Modi, the Indian Prime Minister was clear that if Pakistan attacks, India will retaliate with disastrous force. India showed that on May 10 morning, striking a nuclear-powered country nearly 100 km deep inside Pakistan with Brahmos missiles. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had to make an unprecedented call to Munir to read the Riot Act out upon which Munir waved the white flag. Still, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval made it clear to Rubio in subsequent calls that they wanted to hear it from Pakistan directly.
Behind these lies is the real picture.
What Pakistan so far tried to hide from the world, but no longer can, is the massive strikes India carried out on May 10 that made Pakistan come to its knees. The biggest strike was at the Bholari air base near Karachi in Sindh where Indian missiles rained on a hangar. This was where a Pakistani AWACS was stationed that Pakistan had acquired from abroad for nearly Rs 1,000 crore. This is a modern radar system. Besides that, nearly 50 Pakistani airmen, including a Squadron leader were killed in this deadly strike.
India also destroyed many hi-tech fighter planes of Pakistan, besides damaging runways at multiple Pakistani air bases. This crippled Pakistan's ability to strike back. So much so that Sharif also had to drive to the Sialkot air base for a copycat visit after PM Modi went to Adampur – he did not go to Rawalpindi to the Nur Khan air base which has been badly damaged by India.
Foreign publications like The New York Times and Washington Post, and global experts cite satellite images to say India struck hard.
After just four days of calibrated military action, it is objectively conclusive — India achieved a massive victory, says global expert John Spencer. 'It was a strategic success—and a decisive Indian victory," Spencer says.
Another global expert Tom Cooper also cites satellite images to say, 'India achieved a clear-cut victory against Pakistan!"
But the Pakistani Army and Pakistani government continues to adopt the ostrich approach to escape embarrassment in front of its public. The truth, however, has its own way of coming out!
Watch India Pakistan Breaking News on CNN-News18. Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from geopolitics to diplomacy and global trends. Stay informed with the latest world news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated!
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Homework Column india Pakistan news18 specials Shehbaz Sharif
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New Delhi, India, India
First Published:
May 19, 2025, 07:00 IST
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The reason for their success lay instead in superb mission engineering and systems engineering within a very clear strategic conceptual framework. Consequently, focusing on the mission and system goals rather than the aerial vector hijacking all attention is the lesson to be drawn, at least so far as drones are concerned. Innovation: We must also correspondingly evolve our understanding of innovation and its different manifestations depending upon the stage of the crisis facing us. It is nearly impossible to conjure and envision such a system as the Ukrainians put together in peacetime due to the absence of a specific scenario. Nevertheless, a strong focus on innovative concepts of operation and corresponding mission/systems engineering are vital, as opposed to our continuing obsession with 'non-negotiable requirements'. Silos: The conduct of a long-range strategic air attack by an intelligence service clearly points to the obsolescence of institutional silos in this next-gen warfare realm. We clearly need to untangle our feet in this regard as evident from the plethora of drone RFPs working at cross-purposes. Commodore JA Maolankar is a retired naval test pilot, currently working in the field of swarm drones development. He tweets @JA_Maolankar. Views are personal. (Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)
