Hours after Pakistani Navy claimed to have "detected and thwarted" an attempt by an Indian Navy submarine to enter its territorial waters, the Indian Navy slammed the neighbouring nation for spreading "false propaganda".
Addressing a joint press conference, the Indian Navy said, "We [Indian Navy] remain deployed to protect National Maritime Interests."
"Over the past several days, we have witnessed Pakistan indulging in false propaganda and spreading rumours. We don't take cognizance of such propaganda. Our deployment remains undeterred," the Indian Navy statement added.
Earlier, a spokesperson of the Pakistan Navy said that they used their "specialised skills" to stop the Indian submarine from entering Pakistani waters. A video of the Indian submarine entering Pakistani waters was released by the Pakistan Navy.
However, Indian sources said that it was old footage from 2016 which had been released by Pakistan and is part of a "propaganda stunt" by the enemy country. The Pakistan Navy claim came amid the latest flareup between the two nuclear-armed neighbours following a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama, claimed by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force troopers were killed on February 14.
This is not the first time Pakistan has been slammed for allegedly using morphed or doctored videos to gain an upper hand on India.
A heavily edited video was released by the Pakistan government a few minutes before Abhinandan crossed the border, in which IAF the Wing Commander speaks about how he ejected from the MiG-21 when it was shot by the Pakistan security forces and his experience in the neighbouring country. Later, Abhinandan told the senior IAF officials that the Pakistani ISI made him record a video appreciating the Pakistani side while maligning the Indian media.
