New Delhi (Sputnik): Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, spokesperson of the Pakistani Armed Forces, tweeted that he hopes India will also back down from the other claim it made about the aerial clash between the two air forces.
His remark comes after Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, earlier on Thursday, stated that not a single Pakistan citizen died in the air strike carried out by the Indian Air Force (IAF) across the border in response to the Pulwama terror attack in February.
"Finally the truth under ground reality compulsions. Hopefully, so will be about other false Indian claims ie surgical strike 2016, denial of shooting down of 2 IAF jets by PAF and claim about F16. Better late than never," Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, spokesperson of the Pakistani Armed Forces, tweeted on Thursday.
Finally the truth under ground reality compulsions. Hopefully, so will be about other false Indian claims ie surgical strike 2016, denial of shooting down of 2 IAF jets by PAF and claim about F16. Better late than never.#TruthPrevails#PakistanZindabad https://t.co/Kim8CZTdlJ
— Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) April 18, 2019
Sushma's statement is in direct contradiction of the 26 February statement made by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale in which he claimed that "in this operation, a very large number of Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for fidayeen action were eliminated."
READ MORE: Modi Warns Pakistan Against ‘Threats’: India Has ‘Mother of Nuclear Bombs’
Sushma Swaraj said the air strike was carried out in self-defence. "When we carried out air strike across the border after the Pulwama terror attack, we had told the international community that we took that step in self-defence only.
"The army was told to target only the terror camps of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, which had taken the responsibility for the Pulwama attack. And, our army did the same without harming any Pakistani citizen or soldier," Swaraj added.
The IAF struck an apparent Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Pakistan's Balakot on 26 February, in response to the 14 February Pulwama terror attack in which 40 Indian soldiers were killed.
