New Delhi: Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir hosted a “victory” dinner for the country’s political brass and gave a framed picture of what was supposed to be his military in action against India under Operation Bunyanum Marsoos to Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
However, the picture is actually from a Chinese military exercise in 2017 and not the Pakistani Army in action. The gaffe by the Army chief was quickly identified on social media where it was being likened to the Pakistan’s Army’s false declaration of a win and large scale destruction in India.
The dinner hosted Saturday was to pay tribute to the country’s “political leadership and the unwavering commitment of the Armed Forces”. Among the key attendees were President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Chairman Senate Yousaf Raza Gilani, Speaker of the National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq, federal ministers, provincial governors and chief ministers.
After images of the high-profile dinner were shared on social media with pictures of both Munir and Sharif holding the picture, some users were quick to point out the discrepancies and soon mocked the Pakistani Army for sharing a fake photo.
“Apparently the Pakistan Army Chief has gifted PM Shehbaz Sharif a dated Chinese military photo as a souvenir to illustrate Pak Army attack against India. So not just a fake victory narrative but also a fake photo with it. What a joke @OfficialDGISPR,” Pakistani journalist Taha Siddiqui wrote on ‘X’.
Senior leadership from major political parties, top government officials, and high-ranking officers from the Pakistan Army, Air Force, and Navy also participated in the event along with Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and service chiefs, the state-run PTV reported.
The discovery of the Chinese-origin image has now undermined the credibility of the narrative and made the entire event a subject of public mockery.
“This is more than a meme-worthy blunder—it’s a systemic tell. When Pakistan’s top general gifts the Prime Minister a recycled Chinese artillery image as ‘proof of success,; it reveals how disconnected their narrative machine is from operational truth…Either way, it shows one thing clearly: Pakistan’s strategic signaling is now indistinguishable from parody. And even China’s recycled firepower can’t mask that,” another ‘X’ user pointed out.
Later, Siddiqui narrated to ThePrint how he found out the “Chinese arms photo”.
“I saw the original photo being shared by local media in Pakistan and then saw other accounts sharing that it may be Chinese weaponry. Following which I did some reverse Google imaging and voila: It was indeed a Chinese arms photo from some years ago,” he said.
Pakistan has crafted a fake narrative of victory at home, so it is not surprising that it is using a fake photo to go along with it, he added.
“There is another angle but maybe more speculative: Using Chinese imagery to please the Chinese regime which has its own conflict with India. China is one of the main suppliers of weapons to Pakistan and this maybe a way to say thank you,” the exiled Pakistan journalist said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
The pic is from a 2019 Chinese drill reportedly attributed to photographer Huang Hai.