FACT CHECK | Government dismisses Pakistani disinformation on Defence Minister’s role in sunk Iranian ship

The Indian government on Monday dismissed allegations and claims that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh ordered the Indian Navy to assist in an attack on an Iranian warship.

The fake claims also said that Navy chief Kumar Tripathi was preparing to resign following the development.

The Press Information Bureau's fact-check unit clarified that the allegations were a part of an ongoing disinformation campaign by Pakistani accounts targetting India.

They also urged the public to only rely on official government sources for credible information.

In the attached image, an X post is seen claiming, “Int’l media are reporting that, on the orders of India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the Vice Chief of Navy Sanjay Vatsayan assisted in the attack on an #Iranian ship. Following this, the Naval Chief Dinesh Kumar Tripathi has reportedly said he is ready to resign.”

Calling out the fake post, the fact-check unit said on X, “Pakistani propaganda account @Proudindiannavi is spreading false claims that, on the orders of India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the Vice Chief of Navy Sanjay Vatsayan assisted in an attack on an Iranian ship and that Naval Chief Dinesh Kumar Tripathi is preparing to resign.”

The Fact Check unit also flagged a video of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar circulating on social media as Deepfake and AI-generated.

The post said that Pakistani propaganda accounts were responsible for sharing the digitally manipulated video of the External Affairs minister, which alleged that he said “India would not tolerate Muslim countries harassing Israel” and that “Israel recently granted $3 billion to the Afghan Taliban at India’s request.”

The account clarified that the Minister made no such statement.

They also linked the unaltered original clip.