Pakistan foils Indian false-flag operation linked to naval exercises

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has foiled an alleged Indian false-flag operation that involved using a Pakistani fisherman to smuggle military uniforms, ARY News reported on Saturday.

Addressing a joint press conference in Islamabad, Information Minister Atta Tarar and Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhary revealed details of the purported plot.

The ministers said that after the failure of Operation Sindoor and India’s “embarrassing defeat”, New Delhi had intensified its misinformation campaigns against Pakistan.

“One such failed attempt in that campaign has been exposed by our vigilant security agencies,” Tarar stated.

Atta Tarar explained that Pakistani law enforcement agencies had apprehended a local fisherman, Ejaz Mallah, who regularly went fishing in deep waters. In September 2025, while fishing in international waters, Mallah was arrested by the Indian Coast Guard and subsequently taken to an undisclosed location.

According to the minister, Indian intelligence officials coerced and threatened him into cooperating with their plan, promising monetary compensation in return. He was reportedly told that failure to comply would result in two to three years of imprisonment in India.

After his release, the Indian intelligence agency assigned him a task to procure specific items from Pakistan — including uniforms of the Pakistan Navy, Army, and Sindh Rangers, each bearing particular name tags and measurements. These items, the ministers said, were intended to be used in a propaganda operation to falsely implicate Pakistan.

Mallah was also instructed to purchase additional local items such as Pakistani currency notes, cigarette packets, matchboxes, lighters, and Zong SIM cards — meant to create false links to Chinese networks.

This was part of a bigger plan of the Indian intelligence agency to launch a propaganda warfare against Pakistan, Tarar noted.

“Our security agencies acted promptly and apprehended the suspect before he could cross into Indian waters,” Tarar said, commending their vigilance.

Security agencies arrested him at sea, and the suspect has since confessed to his role, the ministers said. “This is part of a greater plan of India to malign Pakistan and to use such propaganda items and disinformation”, info minister said.

According to Tarar, authorities have also obtained audio evidence of his communication with his Indian handler.

Mallah reportedly sent photos of the procured items to his Indian contacts in exchange for an initial payment of Rs95,000, with the balance to be paid after successful delivery. He was intercepted when he attempted to deliver the goods by boat.

Officials also played Mallah’s recorded confessional statement during the press conference.

The ministers suggested that the operation might be linked to India’s (Trishul) naval exercises currently being conducted near the Pakistan border in the Kutch region of Gujarat.

“This conspiracy was designed to coincide with those military activities and to create a false narrative implicating Pakistan,” Tarar said. “Whenever elections in India approach, such activities intensify as part of their political preparation.”

The ministers condemned the operation, calling it an attempt by India to malign Pakistan internationally.

“Pakistan has repeatedly told India that such conspiratorial actions bring it no honor on the world stage,” they said. “These crude dramas only further expose and disgrace it.”

They added that Pakistan would share evidence of the foiled operation with its international partners to “expose India’s reprehensible tactics” and highlight its “propaganda warfare.”