RAWALPINDI, August 18: The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has rejected India’s portrayal of Operation Sindoor as a military triumph, describing a recently released documentary as a highly dramatised and factually flawed attempt to reshape the narrative surrounding the 2025 Pakistan-India conflict.
In a statement, the military’s media wing said that more than a year after Marka-e-Haq, India was attempting to present a preferred version of events rather than acknowledge what Pakistan described as the failure of Indian aggression.
ISPR criticised the documentary for relying on emotional narration, selectively edited interviews and cinematic, Bollywood-style recreations. It said the production lacked historical and military nuance and contained contradictions that undermined its claims of an overwhelming Indian victory.
ISPR questions documentary’s timeline
The military’s media wing specifically challenged the documentary’s attempt to connect a speech by Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff on April 16, 2025, with the Pahalgam incident on April 22, calling the alleged linkage baseless.
ISPR also questioned India’s claim that Operation Sindoor was carried out against those responsible for the Pahalgam attack.
According to the statement, India later claimed that three alleged perpetrators were identified and killed on July 28, 2025 — 82 days after Operation Sindoor.
“If the alleged perpetrators were eliminated on 28 July, India must explain who it claims to have punished on 7 May 2025,” ISPR said.
The military also rejected the documentary’s claim of “100% mission success”, saying Pakistan’s armed forces had thwarted Indian aggression during Marka-e-Haq and shot down eight Indian military aircraft.
Pakistan cites Operation Bunyanum Marsoos
ISPR said Pakistan subsequently launched Operation Bunyanum Marsoos, using precision-guided rockets and missiles, Pakistan Air Force precision weapons, long-range loitering munitions and precision artillery against 26 military targets.
The targets, according to ISPR, included facilities involved in attacks against Pakistani citizens and entities accused of supporting terrorism against Pakistan.
The military’s media wing said the Indian documentary itself contained references to Pakistani missile, drone and air activity, prolonged engagements along the Line of Control and the activation of Indian air-defence systems.
ISPR argued that such acknowledgements were inconsistent with the documentary’s repeated depiction of Pakistan as having suffered a decisive defeat.
Ceasefire narrative challenged
ISPR also disputed India’s presentation of the end of hostilities as evidence of an Indian victory.
The documentary reportedly acknowledges that the fighting ended following communication between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of both countries and an agreement to halt military action.
ISPR said this account contradicted any suggestion that Operation Sindoor ended through a unilateral Indian military victory, adding that a cessation of hostilities facilitated by the United States could not subsequently be presented as proof of unconditional success.
The military also pointed to what it described as contradictory claims within the documentary regarding escalation. While the production emphasised surprise attacks, precision strikes and escalation dominance, it simultaneously claimed that India had deliberately restrained the conflict and offered Pakistan an “exit window”.
“History cannot be rewritten through cinema”
ISPR said cinematic recreations could not alter the chronology of events, aircraft losses, military casualties or the battlefield engagements that took place.
It maintained that Pakistan did not need to create an alternative narrative about Marka-e-Haq, arguing that operational evidence, diplomatic exchanges and subsequent statements by the two sides provided the record of what happened.
Reaffirming Pakistan’s stated commitment to regional peace and stability, ISPR said the armed forces remained prepared to defend the country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and national interests.
The military warned that any future military misadventure would face a “firm, decisive and disproportionate response”, while asserting that cinematic portrayals could not change the outcome of the battlefield.
India and Pakistan fought a four-day military confrontation in May 2025 after India launched strikes inside Pakistan on May 7 following the deadly Pahalgam attack. India named its operation Operation Sindoor, while Pakistan responded with Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos. The hostilities ended on May 10 after the two sides agreed to a ceasefire announced by then-US President Donald Trump.
