NEW DLEHI: The French Navy on Sunday criticised Pakistani media for publishing what it described as “misinformation and disinformation” about India’s Operation Sindoor, after one outlet claimed a French officer had confirmed Pakistani air superiority and the shooting down of Indian Rafale jets during a border confrontation earlier this year in May.In a statement issued on its official X handle, the ‘Marine Nationale’ said the article had fabricated comments and even misidentified the officer involved.“FAKENEWS: These statements were attributed to Captain Launay who never gave his consent for any form of publication. The article contains extensive misinformation and disinformation,” the post said.Pakistan based broadcaster Geo TV’s November 21 report had quoted a “Jacques Launay” as allegedly praising the Pakistan air force during a supposed May 6–7 aerial engagement involving over 140 fighters, and claiming Indian Rafales were downed with Chinese support. The French Navy said the officer’s real name is Captain Yvan Launay – and none of the comments attributed to him were genuine. Clarifying his actual role, the Navy said: “First name is Yvan, not Jacquis. Contrary to what has been established in the article, his responsibilities are limited to commanding the organic naval air station where the French Rafale Marine aircraft are stationed.”According to the statement, Captain Launay’s presentation at the Indo-Pacific conference was strictly technical. “Captain Yvan Launay presented the assets of his naval air base, the missions of the Rafale fighter jet, and the French carrier strike group concept,” it said.Responding to questions at the event, Launay “neither confirmed nor denied that Indian aircrafts had been shot down” during Operation Sindoor and “refused to comment on possible jamming of the Indian Rafale by Chinese systems.” The Navy added that “he never mentioned the Chinese J10.”These clarifications directly contradicted another claim published by the Pakistani outlet, which had said Launay linked alleged Rafale performance issues to operational shortcomings and compared the jet with the Chinese J-10C. The Navy reiterated that such references were never made.France’s rebuttal comes days after a US report by US-China Economic and Review Commission exposed how in aftermath of Operation Sindoor, China initiated a “disinformation campaign” to “hinder the sales of French Rafale aircraft in favour of its own J-35s, using fake social media accounts to propagate AI images of supposed debris from the planes that China’s weapon destroyed.” The Operation Sindoor was launched in response to the dastardly Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu & Kashmir on April 22 earlier this year, in which 26 civilians were killed – the incident later prompted Indian response targeting Pakistan-sponsored terrorist sites.(With inputs from agencies)
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